Experimental Investigation of Active Flapping for Energy Harvesting: A Comparative Analysis between Circular and C-type Cylinders

Abstract

The demand for renewable energy resources is increasing day by day. The most efficient sources of energy include hydroelectricity and nuclear power plants. The focus is to develop a sustainable system with minimum cost investment. This study evaluates the generation of electricity through active flapping of the piezoelectric flag that generates electricity through turbulence in the moving fluid. This research compares electricity generation when a circular/solid and C-shaped cylinder is placed at 90 degrees to the moving fluid. The study experiments with different gap widths and velocities of the moving fluid to find the ideal setup. The gap width between the cylinders and the flapping flag varies between 2.0D ≤ Dx ≤ 4.0D. Also, the moving fluid velocity varies from 0.136m/s ≤ v ≤ 0.3m/s. The experiment shows that a C-type cylinder gives more power than a circular cylinder. The study strengthens the development of renewable energy applications by offering comprehensive details on the best configuration for piezoelectric-based energy harvesters in fluid flow parameters.