Energy Harvesting

The demand for small- and micro-scale energy harvesting has shown an exponential growth in recent years. Examples of modern applications range from micro energy harvesting from various ambient sources - using piezoelectric beams or fringes - to small-scale wind turbines for urban environment and airborne operation.

Flying Testbed for Airborne Wind Energy:

Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) encompasses a new and promising way of exploring wind energy, which to date has not been fully established yet. Considering the diversity of technologies at the operational and architectural level, data gathered by a flying testbed may assist the selection of a specific system for a possible AWE implementation, and targeting a particular location.

Micro Energy Harvesting for Hybrid Stall Control:

Distributed power sources for actuators in active flow control are sought aiming to offset detrimental effects of passive control techniques at pre-stalled operating conditions, without compromising flight endurance. Piezoelectric beams are used to scavenge energy from structural vibrations whereas piezoelectric fringes can harvest energy directly from the flow.

Efficient VAWTs for Urban Environment:

Small-scale vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) aimed at energy harvesting in urban environment operate at low Reynolds numbers and low tip-speed ratios. Such conditions makes them very susceptible to dynamic stall, which strongly penalizes their performance. Blade vortex generators may be optimized for control of dynamic stall in VAWTs.

Dissertations:

• Development of a Flying Testbed for Airborne Wind Energy Harvesting, Msc. Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2022.
• Control of Dynamic Stall in a VAWT Using Blade Leading-Edge Protuberances, Msc. Thesis in Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2021.
• Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Flow-Induced Vibrations in Micro Aerial Vehicles, Msc. Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2019.
• Experimental and Computational Investigation of Hybrid Passive-Active Stall Control for Micro Aerial Vehicles, PhD. Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2018.
• New Biomimetic Technologies for the Aerodynamics of Aerial Vehicles at Low Reynolds Number, PhD. Thesis in Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2018 (in Portuguese).
  
• Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting for Flow Control in Fixed-Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles, MSc. Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2016.
• Assessment of the Potential for Micro Energy Harvesting in a Fixed-Wing MAV Configuration, MSc. Thesis in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 2014.