Harvesting hydraulic energy for self-sustainable IoT flow measurement devices

This work investigates the potential for harvesting hydraulic energy from water flow to create a self-sustainable flow measurement device for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. A prototype of a hydraulic circuit with a microturbine for energy harvesting, flow sensor, microcontroller, and power management circuits was developed. Experiments measured the energy generated versus consumed by the system under different operating conditions. Results showed the microturbine could generate around 1W of power from flows above 2.5 L/min, sufficient to power the measurement device and recharge its battery continuously. The system's average power consumption was reduced by up to 54.5% with strategies like low-power sleep modes and optimized data transmission intervals. Experiments showed the microturbine could generate around 1W of power from flows above 2.5 L/min, sufficient to power the measurement device and recharge its battery continuously. The system's average power consumption was reduced by up to 54.5% with strategies like low-power sleep modes and optimized data transmission intervals. Comparisons between the ESP8266 and ESP32 microcontrollers highlighted tradeoffs between power consumption, processing capabilities, and sleep modes. The research validates the viability of hydraulic energy harvesting for self-sustainable IoT sensor nodes in the context of flow measurement.