Advanced Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Industrial Flue Stacks: A Thermally-Coupled, Multi-Modal Approach

Industrial flue stacks are critical infrastructure requiring continuous structural and environmental monitoring, yet providing power to sensor networks in such environments is a persistent challenge. This paper introduces an advanced energy harvesting paradigm to address this need by leveraging vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) in a manner that explicitly accounts for the unique and harsh operating conditions of these structures. We move beyond conventional VIV models by developing a comprehensive, non-linear, thermally-coupled electro-mechanical framework. This model incorporates three novel aspects: (۱) a thermo-piezoelectric model that accounts for the degradation of piezoelectric coefficients and changes in mechanical properties due to the significant thermal gradient between the hot stack surface and ambient air; (۲) a compound aerodynamic forcing function that models the complex interaction between the external wind field and the high-velocity flue gas efflux, which modifies the vortex shedding behavior; and (۳) a distributed array of piezoelectric transducers designed to capture multi-modal and spatially complex vibration patterns. Time-domain simulations, informed by preliminary CFD analysis of the compound flow field, are performed to solve the coupled governing equations. The results reveal that while elevated temperatures degrade the raw performance of the piezoelectric material, the aerodynamically-enhanced turbulence from the efflux can significantly increase the vibration amplitude, leading to a net positive power output under certain conditions. The analysis demonstrates that ignoring these coupled multiphysics effects leads to highly inaccurate predictions. This work establishes a more realistic and robust modeling foundation for designing resilient energy harvesters capable of long-term, autonomous operation in demanding industrial environments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Energy harvesting ، piezoelectric ، vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) ، flue stack ، thermal effects ، thermo-piezoelectric ، multiphysics modeling ، non-linear dynamics