Piezoelectric energy harvesting: application to data center monitoring

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the study of vibration energy harvesting from a data center (DC) mainframe computer to power nodes of a wireless sensors network (WSN are used to improve the energy efficiency of a DC). Design/methodology/approach – The piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (VEH) has been designed using an electromechanical analytical model. The VEH is composed of a three-layer cantilever beam with a tip mass. A vibration map (amplitude and acceleration) is presented and the authors show that the optimum frequency is around 90 Hz with maximum amplitude of 1 μm and maximum acceleration of 0.6 m/s2. Modeling results and experimental measurements using an electromagnetic shaker to apply vibrations concord. Findings – The VEH delivers a maximum power of 31 μW on a DC mainframe computer and 2.3 mW at 1g on a test rack. It allows us to use a storage capacitance to successfully power a wireless sensor node for measuring temperature. This paper has been carried out in cooperation with IBM Montpellier and within the framework of the RIDER project financed by the French government and the European Union. Originality/value – A vibration map (amplitude and acceleration) is presented and the authors show that the optimal frequency is around 90 Hz with maximum amplitude of 1 μm and maximum acceleration of 0.6 m/s2. The VEH delivers a maximum power of 31 μW on DC mainframe computer and 2.3 mW at 1 g on test mounted the shaker. It allows us with a storage capacitance to successfully power a wireless sensor node for measuring temperature.