Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) industry seeks sustainable and energy-efficient to maintain water quality, aeration, and circulation as well as operation of different low power sensors for monitoring. My research explores an innovative approach to reduce external power demands for low power operating sensors or MEMS in RAS by designing and integrating an energy harnessing device using piezoelectric materials to harvest mechanical energy from fluid dynamics within the system.
When piezoelectric materials are subjected to mechanical stress generates electrical energy. Research has been by me in 2020 to development of a piezoelectric device using ocean wave. A mathematical model has been developed to calculate harnessed power by different wave heights. In my current research I am using PVDF, a flexible polymer-based piezoelectric material to harness energy from fish tanks, where the natural movement of fish can generate mechanical energy. Further, these flexible installations do not interfere with the flow of
water or the fish’s natural behavior results ensuring smooth operation of the RAS. PVDF can also be installed in inside of pipes, tank walls or grates, allowing it to capture kinetic energy from water flows. Experiments have been in hydrodynamics lab of Florida Atlantic University; Figure 1 shows the experimental setup with PVDF piezo material and four wave gauges to measure various data from the wave gauges and PVDF were recorded