Power output characterization assessment of thermoelectric generation in machine spindles for wireless sensor driving
Abstract
Purpose
For using wireless sensors to monitor spindle units without opening the spindle shell to replace the battery, harvesting the waste heat from spindle units of machine tools for thermoelectric generation to drive wireless sensors is studied in this paper. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the thermal network method and the analogies between electrical and thermal domains are used in the simulation of power output performance of thermoelectric generation on a rotating spindle. After that, experiments are done to obtain the real power output performance of the generation and evaluate the feasibility to drive wireless sensors.
Findings
The paper provides that the output voltage of the thermoelectric generations was nearly linear with the rotating speed of the spindle, the output voltage was sensitive to the fixed position of the generations, and the thermoelectric system could drive the wireless sensor well most of the time during continuous operation of the spindle.
Research limitations/implications
It is found that the thermoelectric generation could not provide enough power in the early start-up stage of the spindle rotation, so a high-efficiency power manage system, which will be studied in the future research, is needed to handle this problem.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the development of self-powered wireless sensors in the spindle unit for machine tool monitoring.
Originality/value
The paper develops a model of the power output performance of thermoelectric generation on a rotating spindle and tests the feasibility to drive wireless sensors with this power.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51105336), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. Y1100281) and the Program for Zhejiang Leading Team of S & T Innovation (No. 2009R50008).
Citation
Li, S., Yao, X. and Fu, J. (2014), "Power output characterization assessment of thermoelectric generation in machine spindles for wireless sensor driving", Sensor Review, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 192-200. https://doi.org/10.1108/SR-03-2013-642
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited