Identification of acoustic wave transmission mechanism to efficiently harvest the acoustic energy from gaseous flow in a pipeline

Abstract

A novel efficient acoustic wave transmission mechanism for extracting acoustic energy generated from gas flow pulses in a pipeline is proposed herein. The system comprises a main pipe, a side branch, and an energy harvester mounted thereon. Because pressurized gas flows through the main pipe, the side branch is essential for investigating the acoustic energy-harvesting mechanism installed thereon. Because the most important aspect of this study is the determination of the side branch location, the acoustic modal behavior of the gas flow field must be accurately predicted in advance. Finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to accomplish this task and then experiments were conducted to validate the FEA results. The two sets of results were well-matched, revealing a maximum root-mean-squared open-circuit voltage of 47.8 mV and a maximum power output of 100 μW when the side branch was installed at the pressure antinode point on the main pipe with a length of 1 m. We believe that the results obtained in this study provide substantial guidance for optimally installing acoustic energy harvesters in gas-carrying pipeline systems. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.