Gas turbine engine condition monitoring wirelessly by vibration energy harvesting

Abstract

Abstract- The condition monitoring of the Gas Turbines is carried about by a commercially available wireless mote module called the TelosB Mote which has a sensor suite. Vibration energy is harvested using a Piezoelectric polymer sensor loaded with mass. A power management module is designed. The vibration sensor and the power management module are used to satisfy the power requirements of the TelosB Mote. The sensor performance is analysed and found to have a baseline sensitivity of 1.1 V/g and produces 0.207 mV for 75 Hz. The power management module is fabricated and tested. The module comprises of AC-DC rectification, storage of energy and switching the power from sensor to the application circuit. The power requirement is optimized as the sensor data is obtained at discontinuous intervals. The light surrounding the engine is monitored remotely on PC by an on-board sensor of the mote. Different parameters determining engines efficiency can be monitored by integrating the respective sensors to the mote.
Key Words: TelosB mote, vibration, piezoelectric polymer sensor.