A Novel Optimized Vibration-based Energy Harvester for Leak Detection in Wall-mounted Water Pipelines

This paper introduces a novel vibration-based energy harvesting technique for leak detection in wall-mounted water pipelines utilizing piezoelectric energy harvesters. Wall-mounted pipelines pose a unique challenge due to clamps placed at shorter intervals that dampen vibration intensity. To address this, the proposed approach strategically positions sensor nodes at optimal locations to maximize energy harvesting while ensuring timely and accurate leak detection. To reduce energy consumption in sensing and computation, strategies such as duty cycling and a reduction in the number of samples have been incorporated. Due to the conflicting relationship between leak detection accuracy, delay in detecting the leak, and energy consumed by the sensor node, the approach addresses this trade-off by linking some crucial design parameters, namely the number of samples per cycle, node sleep time, delay in leak detection, required leak detection accuracy, and remaining sensor node energy. The resulting optimization problem is solved using a graphical method. Experimental data is gathered for the harvested energy from a home-grown lab testbed and various techniques are suggested to increase energy generation. Subsequently, the experimental data is utilized to solve the optimization problem by providing optimal node parameters for a selected remaining node energy after a specified number of sampling cycles, as well as a desired leak detection delay and accuracy. The results offer a solution for enhancing sensor node energy efficiency and minimizing leak detection delay, leading to improved system performance and lower long-term maintenance costs for wall-mounted water pipelines.