Experimental Study on Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting using the Temperature Distribution on Bridge Components

Abstract

To secure power supplies is a critical problem for bridge health monitoring (BHM), and energy harvesting has attracted attention in recent years as one solution to this problem. We focused on the temperature distribution in bridge components which influences the structural behavior of bridges. The thermoelectric energy harvesting uses the Seebeck effect and converts temperature differences into electricity. As a fundamental study on the thermoelectric energy harvesting using the temperature distribution on bridge components, temperature measurements on an existing steel girder bridge was carried out. The appropriate components of bridges and installation locations for high conversion efficiency of energy harvesting were discussed from the results. Abilities of a prototype thermoelectric generator were tested, and the characteristic curves between power generation and temperature differences were formulated. Finally, the harvesting energy was estimated by using the characteristic curves of the thermoelectric generator and the measured temperature on the target bridge.