Electromagnetic Energy Harvester Using Pulsating Airflows—Reeds Waving in the Wind

The article presents concepts and experimental studies for an energy harvester designed to convert short, pulsating, turbulent airflows into electrical energy. Such flows occur in the vicinity of roads, highways, and railway tracks, among other places, and are caused by passing vehicles. A laboratory prototype is built in the form of a pendulum deflected from an equilibrium position by the airflow. The pendulum’s oscillations are converted into electrical energy using an electrodynamic transducer. The harvester uses a magnetic system that increases the frequency of the oscillations and increases the energy efficiency of the system. The harvester can be used to power local low-power electrical devices, such as highway monitoring systems. It is possible to place a set of multiple harvesters in the vicinity of the road, creating a visual effect of reeds waving in the wind.