Design, Manufacturing and Testing of VIV Based Energy Harvesting Device

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to utilize the phenomenon of Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIVs) in order to make a clean, green electricity generation device. With fossil fuel deposits rapidly depleting, much of the focus of the world with regards to energy has shifted towards renewable energy resources. Water is an abundant renewable energy resource that is used very often to generate electricity. One way to obtain energy from water is to place cylinders in a flowing stream of water. The vortices generated as a water passes over them causes them to vibrate. This vibrational energy can then be converted into a useful form of energy. Our aim is to study this phenomenon, investigate the variables influencing the behaviour of the flow across cylindrical structures and then to propose an energy generation method based on this phenomenon. According to our study, these oscillations are much more energetic in case of multi-cylinder arrangements as compared to single cylinders. Therefore, multiple cylinders have been used in our device. The cylinders situated upstream are kept stationary as their sole purpose is to generate vortices. Cylinders intended to vibrate are kept in the wake of the upstream cylinders to cause them to vibrate under the influence of vortex-structure interactions. A mechanism is attached to the cylinders in order to convert this vibrational motion into electricity by means of electromagnetic induction.