Accepted Manuscript

Title: Design of Hydro Electromagnetic and Piezoelectric

Energy Harvesters for a Smart Water Meter System

Authors: Jae Yong Cho, Jae Youn Choi, Sin Woo Jeong, Jung
Hwan Ahn, Won Seop Hwang, Hong Hee Yoo, Tae Hyun Sung

PII: S0924-4247(17)30845-2
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.sna.2017.05.018
Reference: SNA 10127

To appear in: Sensors and Actuators A

Received date: 14-12-2016

Revised date: 2-5-2017
Accepted date: 9-5-2017

Please cite this article as: Jae Yong Cho, Jae Youn Choi, Sin Woo Jeong, Jung Hwan Ahn,
Won Seop Hwang, Hong Hee Yoo, Tae Hyun Sung, Design of Hydro Electromagnetic
and Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters for a Smart Water Meter System, Sensors and
Actuators: A Physicalhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2017.05.018

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Design of Hydro Electromagnetic and Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters
for a Smart Water Meter System

Jae Yong Choa, Jae Youn Choia, Sin Woo Jeongb, Jung Hwan Ahna, Won Seop Hwanga
Hong Hee Yoob and Tae Hyun Sung*
a
Department of Electrical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu,
Seoul 136-791, Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-
gu, Seoul, 133-791, Korea

Highlights

 We designed the hydro electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesters for

a smart water meter system.

 The smart water meter system includes the water meter, the wireless data
communication and the water leakage warning system.

 Two energy harvesters (electromagnetic, piezoelectric) generate electrical

energy by utilizing kinetic energy from original energy source (home water)
and these electrical energies are used for operating the water meter and the
water leakage detector, respectively.

 Also, we devised non-contact hybrid energy harvesters using the magnets

which don’t need any hole and are semi-permanent.

 In result, the maximum output power of the electromagnetic and the

piezoelectric energy harvesters was 648 mWrms at 200 Ω and 0.196 mWrms at 10
kΩ, separately.

 Utilizing these harvested energies, the smart water system can works like
electronic gadget in IoT (Internet of Things).

Abstract
We designed hydro electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesters to power a smart water
meter system. Usually, in water pipes, a water meter is necessary for checking water flow
conditions within the pipe. However, supplying electrical energy to the water meter is a critical
problem. The use of batteries or a direct connection to a power socket for this purpose causes
other problems such as requiring regular replacement of the batteries and potential electric

1
shock caused by water leakages. Furthermore, flow rate is checked at a specific location,
typically the basement of the building. By constructing a smart water meter system which is
self-powered by the energy harvesters and can transmit flow rate data wirelessly, time and effort
could be saved. In addition, the proposed smart water meter system can detect water leakages in
the pipes.
In this paper, a turn-buckle type stainless steel waterwheel with a diameter of 90 mm and two
pole magnets was proposed, as turn-buckle type waterwheels do not require any hole in the pipe
unlike other self-powered water meters that use DC motor-based energy generation. In addition,
by designing non-contact energy harvesters using magnets, the proposed energy harvesters are
semi-permanent. The performance of the manufactured energy harvesters was analyzed under
experimental conditions in a flowing water setup composed of a PVC pipe and a water pump.
The electrical output power of the energy harvesters was measured under various load resistance
conditions. The maximum root mean square (RMS) output power of the electromagnetic and the
piezoelectric energy harvesters were 648 mW at 200 Ω and 0.196 mW at 10 kΩ, respectively.
The generated electrical energy works differently. The energy harvested by the electromagnetic
energy harvester is used to be a power source for the smart water meter system while the energy
harvested by the piezoelectric energy harvester is used to be a water leakage detector for the
water leakage warning system.

Keywords: electromagnetic energy harvester; piezoelectric energy harvester; smart water

meter system; water leakage warning system; non-contact energy harvester; impedance
matching

1. Introduction
Energy harvester is a generator that harvests ambient energy from sources such as the sun, wind,
vibration, etc [1-6]. Recently, many studies were conducted about energy harvesters being used
as generators for real applications such as wireless data transmission and electronics [7-11].
Among these studies, two types of energy harvesters were contemplated. One type is the
electromagnetic energy harvester which acts as a generator by the principle of electromagnetic
induction and the other type is the piezoelectric energy harvester which acts as a generator by
converting mechanical energy into electrical energy [12-15]. An advantage of these types of
energy harvesters is that they can harvest ambient energy indoors.
In water pipe systems, which are one of the real applications for energy harvesters, every pipe
where water flows needs a water meter for checking flow conditions inside the pipe. Typically,
they are powered from using batteries or connected to a power socket. However, in these cases,

2
a regular change of batteries is required, and power sockets are susceptible to electric shock
caused by water leakage. To solve this inconvenience and potential danger, some studies about
self-powered water meters have been carried out [16, 17]. In these studies, the self-powered
water meter using DC motor generation is the most universal [18]. However, this type of water
meter have a critical problem. A hole in the pipe is required to make the connection between the
blades and the DC motor. This hole can cause water leakages.
Thus, in this study, we designed semi-permanent contactless hybrid energy harvesters which
don’t require a hole in the pipe and uses electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesting
technologies. For the electromagnetic harvester, we utilized the electromagnetic force generated
between magnets placed on a set of rotating waterwheel and a coil that covers the pipe. For the
piezoelectric harvester, we utilized the magnetic force generated between the magnets on the
rotating waterwheel and a magnet affixed to the tip of a piezoelectric cantilever beam.
Furthermore, we devised a smart water meter system that is self-powered by the energy
harvesters and can transmit flow rate data wirelessly. In addition, this smart water meter system
can detect water leakages.

2. Design
Prior to design, we set normal water flow rate to 1 m/s, 15.26 L/min, which is the average flow
rate in a water pipe of a house or building. In addition, assuming water leakage occurs, we
randomly lowered the flow rate to simulate a scenario in which water leaks out of a hole and
thus flows more slowly.

2.1 Conceptual Design

Our conceptual design regarding energy flow is shown in Figure 1. Two energy harvesters
(electromagnetic and piezoelectric) generate electrical energy using kinetic energy from the
original energy source (home water). The generated electrical energy is used for operating the
water meter and the water leakage detector, separately. With this energy flowchart, we can
construct a self-powered smart water meter system without any external energy source.

2.2 System Design

Regarding the proposed system’s design, there are three main parts. The first part is the
electromagnetic energy harvester. The second part is the piezoelectric energy harvester. The
third part consists of the rotating waterwheel with two magnets. First, we fabricated an
electromagnetic coil, which is a copper coil with a cylindrical shape, as shown in Figure 2.

3
The thickness of the copper wire used was 0.55 mm and the maximum number of turns for this
coil was 2752 turns. According to Equation (1), the electricity that the harvester generates
increases with the number of turns. Thus, we maximized the number of turns. In addition, to
maximize the electricity generated, we increased the change of the magnetic flux (Ф) and
displacement (Z) by placing the magnets on the outer side of the waterwheel.
𝑑∅ 𝑑∅ 𝑑𝑍
𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 = 𝑛 =𝑛 (1)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑍 𝑑𝑡

In Equation (1), n is the number of turns of the coil, Φ is the average magnetic flux and Z is the
perpendicular displacement of the magnet relative to the bottom.
For the second part, we used a conventional piezoelectric module of which a magnet can be
easily attached to the tip. Figure 3 and Table 1 show the physical and material specifications of
the piezoelectric module, respectively.

For the third part, we constructed a turn-buckle type waterwheel which was placed inside the
water pipe and had two magnets attached in the opposite direction as shown in Figure 4(a).
These magnets have opposite poles. The waterwheel rotates when water flows. When water
flows through the pipe, a change in the magnetic flux occurs and the electromagnetic energy
harvester generates electricity. At the same time, the magnetic force between the magnets in the
pipe and the magnet in the piezoelectric harvester changes. This change causes vibrations in the
piezoelectric module which is shown in Figure 4(b) [19]. Thus, when the waterwheel rotates,
these two energy harvesters generate electricity because of the changes in the magnetic flux and
magnetic force.

2.3 Simulation
2.3.1 Mathematical Modeling of Magnetic Force for Simulation
To analyze the magnetic effects in a simulation, we designed a mathematical model of the
magnetic force. The analytical model of the magnetic force is as follows [20]:
30 ma mb  ˆ
Fmag  k sin(a)  ˆj sin(a  b)  2rˆ cos(b)  5rˆ sin(a) sin(a  b)  (2)
4 r 4 
where 0 is the permeability of space (4π𝐸 −7 ), ma and mb are the magnetic moment of two
magnets, respectively, r is the distance between the centers of the two magnets, and vectors k̂ ,
ĵ , r̂ are defined in Figure 5. In Equation (2), r , a, and b are known variables, while ma and mb

are unknown variables. To find these unknown variables, the magnetic force was measured
experimentally under various distance conditions ( r ).

4
 The accuracy of the magnetic force model in Equation (2) and the process of determining the
magnetic moments (ma and mb) were already validated in the previous studies [21, 22].

2.3.2 Simulation
We conducted the analysis using RecurDyn as a multi-body dynamics simulation and analysis
tool. The magnet was modeled as a rigid body because of its small deformation. The
piezoelectric module was modeled as a deformable body to analyze its deformation. We
analyzed this deformable body using the RFLEX model method produced by RecurDyn which
is an analysis method that uses the superposition of assumed modes. Figure 6 shows a picture of
the simulation. We compared three cases. In the first one, only one magnet was attached to the
outer side of the waterwheel. In the second and third cases, two magnets and four magnets were
attached, respectively. The results are shown in Figure 7. The maximum displacement occurred
near 120 rpm, which means that the maximum voltage produced will occur in that range. The
rpm of the maximum voltage depends on the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric module.
In other words, if we set a certain critical flow rate and rpm caused by water leakage, we can
design and fabricate an appropriate piezoelectric module. From our results, it can be seen that
using four magnets yields the largest displacement. However, we chose to use two magnets
because the waterwheel could not rotate for the flow rate of 1 m/s when using four magnets
because of their combined weight.

3. Experiment
3.1 Experimental Setup
Figure 8(a) shows the proposed turn-buckle type waterwheel with two magnets inside a pipe.
The waterwheel was connected with the spindle using bearings, and the effects of friction were
low. In Figure 8(b), there are several experimental equipment: an oscilloscope (DPO 4054B,
Tektronix), a decade resistance box (72-7270, TENMA), a water pump (YI-1000, NIAGARA
WATER PUMP), and a water flow probe (FP111, Global Water). The water pump runs water at
a constant flow rate of 1 m/s, 15.26 L/min which is the general water flow rate inside a pipe of a
house or building.

3.2 Optimization (Impedance Matching)

We conducted an analysis of impedance matching to optimize both harvesters for the flow rate.
For the flow rate, we changed the resistance of the decade resistance box and measured the
average output voltage for four seconds. For the electromagnetic energy harvester, resistance

5
ranged from 1 Ω to 1000 Ω and for the piezoelectric energy harvester, resistance ranged from 1
kΩ to 200 kΩ.

4. Results and Discussion

Figure 9(a) shows the output voltage and the output power of the electromagnetic energy
harvester versus load resistance. The maximum output power of 648 mWrms was achieved at a
load resistance of 200 Ω. At that output power, the RMS output voltage and the output current
were 11.38 V and 57 mA, respectively. Figure 10 shows the waveform of the electromagnetic
energy harvester for a time lapse of four seconds under maximum conditions (a load resistance
of 200 Ω). From this waveform, the rotation speed of the waterwheel was about 412 rpm.
For the piezoelectric energy harvester the maximum output power of 0.196 mWrms was achieved
at a load resistance of 10 kΩ. For this output power, the RMS output voltage and the output
current were 1.4 V and 0.14 mA, respectively. The results are shown in Figure 9(b).

5. Application
For real-world applications, we designed a circuit diagram for each energy harvesting system as
shown in Figure 11. The electromagnetic energy harvesting circuit needs a rectifier because it is
an AC source. Also, a boost converter is required for storing energy in the energy storage
system because the output voltage is low and the output current is high. The water meter can be
self-powered from the energy storage system and wirelessly transmit flow rate data to the
receiver.
The piezoelectric energy harvesting circuit needs a rectifier and a buck converter because it is
an AC source with a high voltage output. A threshold voltage detector following the converter is
a water leakage detector of the water leakage warning system. The water leakage warning
system is activated during leakage. When the piezoelectric energy harvester generates voltage
that is higher than the threshold voltage for a certain period of time (because of low rpm from
the water leakage), the threshold voltage detector transmits a signal to the water leakage
warning system. As a result, the warning system turns on a buzzer or light.
Additionally, when we designed both converters, we took two points into considerations. One of
them is an impedance matching circuit to achieve maximum power transfer to the load and the
other is a cold-start circuit for operating the converters even if the energy storage device is
completely discharged. In order to optimize these circuits, the energy storage system will store
enough energy to operate the smart water meter system.

6. Conclusion & Future work

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In this study, we designed the hydro electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesters to
operate a smart water meter system and to prevent various problems related to water pipes, such
as water leakage and the replacement of the water meter’s battery. For the water leakage, we
used a turn-buckle type waterwheel which does not need any hole or perforation in the pipe and
devised the water leakage warning system. For the battery replacement, by harvesting ambient
energy from the regular flow of home water, we constructed a self-powered smart water system
which can transmit flow rate data wirelessly and detect water leakages.
The performances of the manufactured energy harvesters were analyzed under the experimental
condition (flow rate of 1 m/s, 15.26 L/min) and the output power for both harvesters was
measured under various load resistance conditions. The maximum output power of the
electromagnetic and the piezoelectric energy harvesters was 648 mWrms at 200 Ω and 0.196
mWrms at 10 kΩ, respectively. The electrical energy generated can be stored in the energy
storage device and can be used to power the smart water meter system (which comprises a water
meter, wireless data transmission devices, and a water leakage warning system). Therefore, the
proposed system can work as an IoT-enabled (Internet of Things-enabled) device.
In future works, we will use the output power of both harvesters for real-life applications. First,
the wireless data transmission system will obtain electrical energy from the electromagnetic
energy harvester and transmit flow rate data to the receiver. The key issue will be the
measurement of flow rate. Next, for the water leakage warning system, the threshold voltage
detector will be the key issue. This detector will be actuated when the voltage is higher than the
threshold voltage for a certain period of time, which indicates that a water leakage might be
occurring in the pipe. We will investigate and address these key issues.

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources Core Technology Program of
the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), granted financial
resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (Piezoelectric
Energy Harvester Development and Demonstration for Scavenging Energy from Road Traffic
System, Project No. 20142020103970).

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First A. Jae Yong Cho received the Bachelor degree in the Department of Electronic Engineering degree from Hanyang University,
Seoul, South Korea in 2014. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D course in the Department of Electrical Engineering from the same
university. His research interests include energy harvesting system and energy harvesting circuit designing for application and
energy storage device.

Jae Youn Choi received his Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Engineering degree from University of Seoul from Korea in 2012.
He is currently pursuing his MS degree from Hanyang University. His research interests include wireless communication using
energy harvesting technologies.

Sin Woo Jeong received his B.S. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in
2014. He is currently an Ph.D course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His
research interests include multi-body dynamics, structural vibration.

Jung Hwan Ahn was born in Seoul, Republic of Korea in 1990. He received the B.Sc. degree from Hanyang University, Seoul,
Republic of Korea. He undergoes Ph.D course in same university now. His major is electrical engineering.

10
Won Seop Hwang received the Bachelor of electrical engineering degree from Seoul National University of Science and
Technology, Seoul, South Korea in 2015. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc & Ph.D. degree from Hanyang University. His research
interests include mechanical modelling of energy harvester, designing of power circuit system and wireless sensor network.

Hong Hee Yoo received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Department of Mechanical Design in Seoul National University in 1980
and 1982. His Ph.D. is from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor in 1989. He is a professor in Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. His re-search interests include
multi-body dynamics, structural vibration, and statistical uncertainty analysis in mechanics.

Tae Hyun Sung holds a B.A. (1982), an M.S. (1987) in inorganic material engineering from Hanyang University and a Ph.D.
(1991) in Material Science and Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology. Professor Sung worked at International
Superconductivity Technology Center (ISTEC) as a researcher (1992). He was in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a
Post doc. (1995). Before joining the Hanyang faculty in 2009, Professor Sung worked at the Korea Electric Power Research Institute
(KEPRI) as a group leader of superconductivity group. His research interests include superconductivity, electrical material, energy
storage device and piezoelectric energy harvesting technology.

Figure 1. Energy flow of the smart water system

11
Figure 2. Physical specifications of the electromagnetic coil

Figure 3. Physical specifications of the piezoelectric module

Figure 4. (a) Turn-buckle type waterwheel & (b) Configuration of the energy harvesting system

12
Figure 5. Definition of vectors k̂ , ĵ , and r̂

Figure 6. The RecurDyn simulation for the piezoelectric energy harvester

Figure 7. Displacement of the piezoelectric module versus RPM for (a) one magnet,
(b) two magnets, and (c) four magnets

Figure 8. (a) Real turn-buckle type waterwheel used & (b) Experimental setup

13
Figure 9. Results for output voltage and power versus the load resistance
(a) Electromagnetic harvester, (b) Piezoelectric harvester

Figure 10. Waveform produced by electromagnetic energy harvester

Figure 11. Circuit diagram of the smart water meter system using two harvesters

Table 1. The material specification of the piezoelectric module

Material Properties
Piezoelectric charge constant d31 (10-12 m/V) -200
Piezoelectric voltage constant g31 (10-3 V∙m/N) -11.1
Dielectric constant eT33/e0 1096
Piezoelectric coupling coefficient Kp (%) 82.4

14
Young’s modulus (GPa) 193
Poisson’s ratio 0.3

15