Experiment and performance analysis of serpentine-shaped cantilever beam for pipeline vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvester prototype development

Pipelines produce vibrations during fluid or gas transportation. These vibrations are less likely to cause structural failure as they exist with a small magnitude and can be harvested into useful energy. This paper presents a study on the piezoelectric energy-harvesting method converting mechanical energy from pipeline vibration into electrical energy. The performance of the serpentine-shaped piezoelectric cantilever beam was observed to check whether the design can produce the highest output voltage within the allowable vibration region of the pipeline from 10 to 300 Hz through finite element analysis using COMSOL Multiphysics software (). In addition, this study investigates the energy-harvesting potential of the proposed design under real pipeline vibration conditions through a lab vibration test. The harvested energy output is evaluated based on various vibration frequencies and amplitudes, which gives an idea of the device and its performance under different operating conditions. The experiment result shows that the energy harvester produced an open-circuit voltage of 10.28-15.45 V with 1 g of vibration acceleration. The results of this research will contribute to the development of efficient piezoelectric energy harvesters adapted for pipeline environments. Pipeline operations can produce vibrations that are sometimes perceived as noise. However, these vibrations can be harnessed to generate mechanical energy, which can then be converted into electrical energy. This innovative technique can be utilized to establish and improve a wireless or independent pipeline monitoring system. Graphical Abstract