Utilizing Deep Ocean Currents to Power Extended

Duration Sensors

Leverett Bezanson and John Thornton
Progeny Systems
San Diego, CA
lbezanson@progeny.net

Nick Konchuba and Shashank Priya
Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems (CEHMS), Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
spriya@mse.vt.edu

Abstract- Energy harvesting has the potential to save billions of dollars and create ground breaking technologies for sustainable ocean
monitoring systems. Replacement of batteries from the sensors deployed on sea floor is expensive and tedious process. The cost of
maintenance for battery operated equipments in the deep waters may be prohibitive. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop a system
that harnesses energy to prolong the life of these sensors or transducers and reduce the maintenance costs. The low energy density
environment of the sea floor limits the methods that can be used for energy harvesting. Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) due to fluid
flow plagues structures and cables in the undersea environment. The energy produced can be very destructive and the effect has been
analyzed for many years. It is this phenomenon that Progeny has been investigating to power the undersea sensors. This will be
accomplished by applying the force produced by VIV to piezoelectric cymbal generators and storing the energy in secondary batteries.
Progeny Systems has teamed with Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems (CEHMS), Virginia Tech, whom are leader in
the vibration energy harvesting field, and have successfully demonstrated the power generation capability of cymbal under laboratory
conditions using the boundary conditions derived from VIV. Extensive analytical modeling and ATILA based FEM analysis was
conducted to optimize the performance of the cymbal transducers.

I. INTRODUCTION
SURVIVE was developed for submarine tracking transducers deployed for training missions under a Phase I SBIR supported
by NAVAIR. The technology can be applied to any underwater system that has similar power requirements. The Supply
Utilizing Vortex Induced Vibration Energy (SURVIVE) is a sea floor power supply that can power components that have either
short duration medium power draw or a low power steady draw. To exemplify, this system could power surveillance arrays,
oceanographic sensors of many varieties, or health monitoring systems of deep
ocean oil platforms. The objective of SURVIVE is to prolong the life of
electronics up to 10 years without undergoing mandatory maintenance. Risks
that can decrease the lifespan are fatigue of the vibrating rod or the generators,
and the cycle limitations of the batteries. This paper describes each subsystem
of energy conversion sequentially. Each section includes the current design and
verification simulations and experiments.
Section II details the initial mechanical conversion of the slow moving
currents found on the ocean floor into oscillatory compression and tension
stress that can be applied on to piezoelectric cymbal transducers. This section
includes simulations and mathematical models that were developed to optimize
the mechanical design and output power characteristics. Section III includes the
laboratory tests on the cymbal generator array. A prototype of three generators
was built and characterized through experimentation to verify the multi-physics
models and simulations. Section IV outlines the electrical conversion and
summation of the energy and how it is applied to the battery pack. Also
included in this section are the characteristics of the chosen battery chemistry
and the available loads that the supply can drive. Simulations on the switched
power supply were done with SIMPLIS, along with MATLAB models of
performance. Section V provides a look into the future research and
configurations that is possible for the SURVIVE structure.

Fig. 1. Solid Model of SURVIVE
978-1-4244-4333-8/10/$25.00 2010 IEEE
II. MECHANICAL ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND SIMULATIONS
A. Analysis and Design of Vibrating Cantilever
SURVIVE is based on harvesting energy from water motion by including a electromechanical transducer that can vibrate close
to the resonance in the flow as a result of the vortexs created around the structure. This is referred to as Vortex Induced Vibration
(VIV). The vortex street wake is similar regardless of the geometry of the structure. As the vortices are shed from various facets,
alternating surface pressures are induced on the structure which then causes the vibration of the structure. Typically, engineers
analyze the prevailing environment, wind or current, to ensure that structure designs will not resonate when forced at those
environmental conditions. This is accomplished by evaluating the expected vibration frequency which would be caused by the
fluid flow and ensuring that the structural design does not have a similar resonant frequency. In the case of SURVIVE, the
premise was to design the structure to resonate at the same frequency as the vortex street and harvest the energy created. The
ability to design this mechanism is shown in the following analysis. Vortex shedding from a structure in a current flow is a
function of Reynolds number, R
e
given as [1]:

R
c
=
0
u
(1)

Where u is the fiee stieam velocity and is the chaiacteiistic uimension. The Strouhal number (S) is a dimensionless
proportionality constant between the predominant frequency of vortex shedding and the free stream velocity divided by the
characteristic dimension give as [1]:

S =
]
s

0
(2)

Wheie
s
is voitex sheuuing fiequency. At R
e
< 10
5
, S is a maximum of 0.22 at R
e
=10
3
. In the transitional range, 3x10
5
< R
e
<
3x10
6
, researchers have found that very smooth surface cylinders has a chaotic, disorganized, high-frequency wake and S as high
as 0.5 [1]. The environment analyzed had a 0.25 m/s average current. To keep the rod at a reasonable length it was found that the
current must be amplified from all directions. A proprietary structure was created to achieve an amplified current across the face
of the rod from different directions. A cylinder can be used to maximize the omni-directional power conversion and achieve the
higher modes of vibration which create the load needed to drive piezoelectric cymbal transducers. The lateral and fore-aft force
per unit length can be written as [2]:

F = [
1
2
C
d o I
p u
2
(3)


Where C
d
is coefficient of drag, C
l
is coefficient of lift and is the density of seawater. The coefficient of lift has been shown
in literature to be a function of tip amplitude. A curvefit of experimental data for a pivoted rod at resonance with vortex shedding
is provided in Ref. [1]. The in-line frequency has been proven to vibrate at twice the lateral frequency. The cylinder structure was
designed to have a resonant frequency for the transverse case. The resonant frequency of a cantilever can be calculated as [3]:

n
=
K
n
2n
_
LIg
wI
4
2
(4)

Wheie fn is the Natuial fiequency, Kn is the moue numbei, E is the mouulus of elasticity, I is the moment of ineitia, g is
the acceleiation, w is the loau pei unit length, anu l is the length of beam. The net force was applied at the center of the length
of the rod, or at 1.1m. The resultant moment felt at the base of the rod was found to be 37.5 N-m for in-line vibration. By
analyzing the structure as a simply supported beam with a moment applied to the center of the beam we calculated the length of
the beam to achieve the desired force applied to the structure. We hoped to achieve a 60N time varying force at the simple
supports then the length of the beam, diameter of the plate which mounts the cylindrical rod, was 0.625m. The resulting resonant
frequency was designed to be 60 Hz which could be achieved for the electromechanical transducers.


B. Simulations
Several simulations were conducted to verify the calculations and optimize the design. These simulations incorporated the
electrical load and parameters such as input frequencies and forces were varied to achieve the power output in the desired range.
The electronics and batteries could last 15 to 20 years. Therefore, other factor that will affect the system life is the fatigue of the
vibrating rod. COSMOS is structural analysis software that is an add-on to the SolidWorks Solid Modeling program. FEA and
fatigue analyses were done on several different materials to begin the material selection process for the prototype and production
system. The analysis was started by deflecting the rod in the 3
rd
mode of vibration which is the baseline VIV configuration to
achieve the desired load on the wobble plate. One concern was the longevity of the rod under strain. Figs. 2 and 3 show the
conservative analysis done on a titanium rod after a year of constant vibration. Even with the high safety factor applied and the
base statically constrained, which would not be the case during deployment since the transducers will compress taking the brunt
of the load, the titanium rod easily passed. With a treated metal and solid machined design it was easy to infer that the life
limitation will not be the rod failing. Figure 4 shows the MATLAB simulation created by using the underlying equations from the
previous section. This allows for a design that can be easily modified and changed to meet the changing requirements of any
sensor that would want to use the SURVIVE as its power source. A multi-physics simulation of the flow across the rod is
underway using CD-Adepco software.





III. GENERATOR PROTOTYPES AND EXPERIMENTS
A. Cymbal Generator Design
The design of cymbal transducer was based upon two factors: amplification factor and electromechanical resonance frequency.
These two factors have guided the geometric constraints and selection of materials for the transducer. The amplification factor
determines the effectiveness of the cymbal as a mechanical transformer and is approximately proportional to the ratio
c
/2d
c
. The
magnitude of axial load transferred in the transverse direction is proportional to cos(). A small is desirable, however if is too
small then the cavity volume is nonexistent and the transducer loses its amplification properties. Based on the literature survey of
published information [4 - 6], the ratio
c
/2d
c
was set to 7. These symbols and relationships are shown in Fig. 5 and Table 1. The
mechanical load specifications were fixed at 60 N at 60 Hz for the cymbal to be mounted in a container with an overall diameter
of 0.66m. The literature review also showed that a 29 mm diameter cymbal transducer could generate 10 mW of power from a 70
N dynamic load at an operating frequency of 60 Hz [6]. Based on this result, the SURVIVE unit requires approximately 100
transducers in order to generate output power in the range of 0.6-1.0 W. The simplest possible way to array the transducers would
be to vertically stack them in the housing with permitted number of rows. The stacking concept was used as the basis for
constraining the overall diameter of cymbal. For a stack of N transducers of equal mass and stiffness, the resonant frequency of
stack was related to the resonant frequency of one transducer by the following relation:

s
=
1
N

t
(5)
This relationship was verified using ANSYS. For two different cap materials, the number of cymbals in the stacks was varied
from 1 to 32 showing that the frequency varies as 1/N, for any number of N transducers, as shown in Fig. 6. The mechanical
resonance of a 29 mm cymbal was approximately 15kHz. This preliminary analysis suggests that 160 transducers would be
needed per stack reducing the height to approximately 0.6 m. The cymbal caps were made of steel because of its rigidity, strength,
and electrical properties. While 160 is much too tall however even a stack of 10 greatly reduces the resonant frequency.




Fig. 2 COSMOS Simulation of Rod
Undergoing VIV.
Fig. 2 Titanium Stress Simulation for 1
Year
Fig. 4 MATLAB Simulation of Governing VIV Equations
and Parameters
TABLE I: PARAMETERS OF DESIGNED CYMBAL TRANSDUCER




B. Prototype and Experimental Results
An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the
electrical characteristics of cymbal transducer and verify the
modeling results. Fig. 7 shows a picture of two completed
transducers. The steel caps of the transducers were bonded to
piezoelectric disk using a thin layer of epoxy cured at 80
o
C. Silver
powder was mixed with the epoxy to provide electrical connection
between the ceramic and steel caps. This allows wires to be directly
soldered to the caps and not just the piezoelectric disk. The
transducers were placed on an ABS plastic plate fixed to the shaker.
A wooden frame was placed on top of the cymbal and shaker and a
force transducer was placed between the cymbal and the frame. The
leads of the cymbal were connected to a bread board used to
perform a resistor sweep. The SigLAB DAQ was used to record the
output of the force transducer and the voltage across the load
resistance. The cymbal was excited under varying frequency, pre-
stress, and dynamic load. The electromechanical resonance of the
cymbal was found to be located at 10 kHz. The fabricated cymbal
has slight asymmetries in the caps which results in a spurious
responseError! Reference source not found.. The damped capacitance of cymbal was measured to be 3.47nF using an
impedance analyzer. The resistor sweep was performed under an input sinusoidal excitation of amplitudes 5 and 11N at 60 Hz
under two different pre-stress conditions. The optimal resistance was in the vicinity of 700 k. This magnitude was close to that
determined analytically using the following expression:

R
Ioud
opt
= R
s
+
1
]oC
(6)


With increasing pre-stress, the power output should increase as long
as there is no change in the mounting condition and mechanical
damping. The experimental results show that the output power
decreases with increase in pre-stress which could be related to
following conditions: wooden material selected for housing the
transducer increases the damping, epoxy used to hold the cap and
ceramic disk is detached, and vertical force is not aligned with the
cymbal axis of symmetry. Further experiments are needed to
eliminate all these factors. The energy harvesting frequencies selected
for the experiments in the range of 10-200 Hz are far below the
electromechanical resonance of the transducer which lowers the
Parameter Symbol Value Units
Cavity Depth d
c
2.175 mm
Cavity Diameter
cav
29.8 mm
Cap Top Diameter
cap
9.8 mm
Cap Thickness t
c
0.3 mm
Piezo Thickness t
p
2 mm
Piezo Diameter
p
32.8 mm
Overall Diameter 37.83 mm
Fig. 5 ANSYS model with Pertinent Dimensions
Fig. 6 Inverse Relationship Between the resonance Frequency of
One Transducer and a Stack of N Transducers

Fig. 7 Picture of Prototyped Transducers
response. An array of cymbals can be used and mounting mechanism to achieve mechanical resonance. This will be investigated
on a 3-element array. The results show that I the operating frequency of the cymbal is increased then it will result in higher
output power.
ATILA FEM software was used for optimizing the dimensions of cymbal. The dimensions used in the model were taken from
the fabricated transducer to match the results from testing. The piezoelectric material parameters in the model (PZT5AH) differ
slightly from the actual material used in the fabricated cymbal. Steel with a 210 GPa Youngs modulus was chosen for the cap
material. The impedance of the modeled cymbal was found to be close enough to that of tested cymbal illustrating the validity of
FEM in further optimization of the performance. The electromechanical resonance was slightly higher in the calculated curve than
in the experimental data. As mentioned earlier, there could be several factors for this difference in the calculated and measured
data, mainly related to the asymmetry and epoxy layer. The epoxy used to bond the caps with the ceramic disk may lead to
dampening thus reducing the frequency in the model estimation.
Fig. 8, shown above depicts the voltage and power variation at various frequencies. Only the dynamic force was modeled in
ATILA due to limitations imposed by the interface. The model correctly estimates the optimal load resistance of 700 k as
shown in Fig. 9. The magnitude of voltage and power is less as compared to the experimentally measured values. The pre-stress
in the experiments might result in higher output powers as piezoelectric charge is higher under stress-biased condition. The
variation in the results could also be related to the difference in the material parameters. The model does under predict the
experimental data, providing a more conservative estimate which will be useful in design of the arrays. The cymbal could not be
tested at the operating point specified for the SURVIVE unit; the model was used to extrapolate the harvester performance
outside of the test region (5-11N). The results of the FEM model are expected to underestimate real values based on results
reported in literature. It was found that ~6mW can be harvested from one cymbal transducer under desired operating conditions.
At 60 Hz, the cymbal was predicted to generate an output voltage of 80 V and the output power of 6mW across a 700 k load.

C. Array Design
In order to achieve the necessary power requirements, an appropriate array structure was designed. This structure was designed
to provide equal force distribution on all transducers reducing the space requirement within the housing by reducing the overall
height and filling the inner regions of the container. The end product is intended to eliminate or reduce some of the drawbacks of
stacking which includes transducer voltage phase mismatch, inefficient use of space in the housing, and resonance matching.
With a solid mounting structure attached to the cantilever-driven top plate, this array will allow transducers to fill the cavity more
efficiently without compromising the dynamics of the system. A section view of the Impulsive Resonating Array is shown in Fig.
10, and the Orthepedic view in Fig. 11. The device is mounted on a platform through spring elements. Cymbal transducers will
be placed on a base platform with very small clearance between the top cap and the base of the sprung mass. An input force from
the top will excite the mass at resonance and create a bouncing pattern on the cymbals. This array has the advantage that it can be
easily made into a revolved section and fit well into the container. The array could also potentially be stacked should more
cymbals be required. The spring elements will suspend a mass tuned to the input frequency. The resonating structure will drive
the cymbals with an impulse response but allow all cymbals to receive an equal amount of force.
Fig. 8 Frequency Vs Power and Voltage of Experiment

Fig. 9 Power Vs Electrical Load

IV. ELECTRICAL TOPOLOGY AND ENERGY ANALYSIS
A. Electronic Design
The output of piezoelectric generators can be modeled as a voltage source so every oscillating generator that is in phase can
be wired together in series. Even with the described array designed there will be many out of phase portions that cannot be
applied simultaneously to the batteries otherwise they would sink power from one another. To combat this problem a system was
designed such that a pulse charge can be applied to a battery pack at a low rate without causing undesirable effects like venting or
a balance mismatch. The stages of converting all of the AC power sources into a DC pulses are shown in Fig. 12. The stages of
energy conversion circuitry are AC to DC conversion, impedance matching DC to DC conversion, and active control with
feedback.
As seen from the diagram the groups of generators are wired in series which will raise the voltages (already on the order of
80 V). This topology produces very high voltages which will dictate the use of simply using regular low voltage drop diodes in a
bridge rectifier to convert to DC. Actively controlled switch mode MOSFETS were originally considered until it was found that it
would make virtually no difference in the overall efficiency because of the high voltages involved and the added complexity of
having to switch the FETs. At the output of the bridge rectifier a DC-DC converter was implemented as opposed to attempting to
directly charge the battery with the very high voltage. This dramatically increases the efficiency due to the impedance matching
of the ideal resistance and the ideal pulse charge that will not harm the battery pack or create heat and reduce efficiency [7].
Taking some of the characteristic provided from the generator a simulation of an ideal buck converter using 8 generators in series
was simulated to obtain the efficiency of the conversion. This is shown in Fig. 13. This simulation was performed using SIMPLIS
circuit simulation software specifically for switch mode power supplies. The simulation yielded efficiency over 80% which could
charge the battery pack from full depletion in 16 weeks with the simulated stack.
A microcontroller monitors the output voltages of every buck converter and the state of the battery to apply the correct
PWM to the switch mode supplies as well as individually pulse charge the pack with the correct voltage and duration. It will also
ensure that the stages do not pulse simultaneously. Rows of batteries could be added and balanced with the same microcontroller
if more power is needed. The power consumption of the microcontroller can be very small due to the advancements in processing
efficiency and the development of specialized PWM controllers that are readily available from multiple sources [8].


Fig. 12 Topology of Energy Conversion Circuitry

Fig. 10 Impulsive Resonating Array Fig. 11 Orthopedic view of Impulsive Resonating Array
B. Energy Storage Configuration and Experiment
There are several different ways to store energy. Most types were
eliminated from this system because of capacity or self discharge. Two
options emerged from the selection as viable storage devices: Lithium-Ion
(and variations such as Lithium Polymer) or Nickel Metal Hydride.
LithiumIon is desirable for its energy density however it does have high
self discharge rates when kept at a full charge. There is also safety issues
along with complex circuitry required for recharging. In the new era of
hybrid vehicles, the Nickel Metal Hydride Hybrid chemistry has advanced to
meet the initial challenge. NiMH batteries used to have high self discharge
rates, but with new developments, the chemistry only self-discharges at 1%
per month which is on par with discharge of Lithium-ion [9] NiMH can also
be trickle charged at the right voltage without the worry of venting or
damaging the battery. The batteries have an average cycle lifespan of 1000
cycles. Experiments are needed to find the longevity of the batteries, but
according to the manufacturer specifications the batteries can last for ten
years in a charged state.
A piece of information that was illusive is the minimum wattage that is required to charge NiMH hybrid batteries. The data
sheets for the cells only state what the maximum charge rate is but not the minimum. To answer this question we procured the
batteries from AccuEvolution one of the few companies producing D size NiMH Hybrids. Fig. 14 shows the uncharged 10Ah
battery pack. Fig. 15 shows the voltage after 3 days of charge proving that we only need 5mA to charge the battery which equates
to 0.120W. At this rate the batteries would be charged in six months. The transducer system required a 10 day use 6 times a year
with these requirements in mind the SURVIVE system was designed to produce 0.66W on average to charge 40 batteries in 30
days. The batteries came pre-charged so they were first discharged completely, then recharged for three days, and discharged
again. Further experiments are underway to establish time periods that are needed with pulse charging.




time/mSecs 10mSecs/div
0 10 20 30 40 50
2
4
6
8
10
12
Fig. 13 SIMPLIS simulation showing improved voltage
output (mA vs mS).
Fig. 14 Discharged NiMH battery pack under 5mA charge.
Fig. 15 NiMH Pack After Three Days of Charge Showing the
Rise in Voltage


SUMMARY

The Supply Utilizing Vortex Induced Vibration Energy (SURVIVE) can be subdivided into three main subsystems: the
mechanical cantilever, the piezoelectric cymbal generator array and the power supply electronics. The design targets ocean
current of 0.25 m/s. After some initial analysis, it was found that the current velocity can be amplified. The accelerated current
flows across the VIV rod which causes a transverse and an along-flow vibration. The VIV rod was designed to resonate at the
frequency that is driven by the flow conditions. The dominant force and frequency after amplification was 60 N and 60Hz. The
VIV rod was attached to a wobble plate that sandwiches multiple stacks of cymbal generators. The plate applies alternating
compression and tension on these stacks. A cymbal generator was utilized due to its structural integrity and ability to amplify the
forces applied on them. Each generator was found to generate a minimum of 6mW in the given conditions. If 300 generators are
used, 150 will be under load and produce a continuous power of 0.9W. The power supply electronics must match the high
impedance of the generator with the low impedance of the NiMH Hybrid batteries. The power supply must also sum the power
from the generators which will be out-of-phase. After an AC-DC conversion with a simple bridge rectifier, a DC-DC buck
converter was used to match impedances. The converter was used in discontinuous mode to sum the generators and has a total
simulated efficiency of 80% leaving 0.72W to charge a 480Wh battery within 33 days. The energy provided from the charge will
be enough to power several different types of sensors that reside on the ocean floor. This can be seen as a system that wakes up
and consumes the full charge of the battery OR a system that will consistently use less power than is produced over a determined
period of time.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by NAVAIR and the offices at NUWC under a Phase I SBIR. The authors would like to thank John
Rego for providing his support during the effort.

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nd
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