AXIAL-FLOW MICROTURBINE ELECTROMAGNETIC WITH GENERATOR: DESIGN, CFD SIMULATION, AND PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION 1 A . S. Holmes, G. Hong, K. R. Pullen, 2K.R.

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Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering 2 Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2A2, UK
ABSTRACT
We have developed a MEMS power conversion device that combines an axial-flow turbine with an axial-flux electromagnetic generator. This device can generate electrical power when placed in an air-stream, and is aimed at applications such as flow sensing and power generation for remote sensors. Recent experimental performance data are presented for prototypes, and compared with CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. The current devices have a volume of approximately 0.5 cm3, generate 1 mW of output power at a pressure drop of 8 mhar and a flow rate of 35 litres per minute, and will operate at pressure drops down to a few mhar. Recently at Imperial College we have been developing an energy scavenger based on an axial-flow turhine with an integrated axial-flux electromagnetic generator. The device, shown schematically in Fig. 1, has a sandwich structure consisting of two silicon stators placed either side of a polymer rotor. Axial gas flow through the device drives the rotor, while permanent magnets embedded in the rotor induce output voltage in planar coils on the stators. Silicon
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1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has been growing interest in alternative power sources that might eliminate the need for chemical batteries in portable electronic devices. For low power applications (up to mW levels), there is the intriguing possibility of scavenging energy from the surroundings thereby eliminating the need for an installed energy source, while at higher power levels there are fuel-burning devices that can potentially offer longer shelf-life and/or higher power density than batteries. Energy scavenging power generators to date have been based mainly on resonant mass-spring-damper systems in which damping is effected, at least in part, by a transducer that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy [1,2]. Such devices work most effectively when excited by a lowamplitude, reciprocating motion at a frequency close to resonance, making them potentially very effective for extracting energy from vibrating machinery. Non-resonant devices in which the spring is omitted are also under development. These have been shown to he more efficient for larger, low frequency excitations such as might he experienced by a portable or wearable device [3]. Work on fuel-huming MEMS power generators has been focused mainly on microturbines. The most highly developed work in this area is that of MIT, where there is an extensive gas turbine program [ 3 ] . The MIT project aims to develop a fully integrated device that combines compressor, burner, turbine and electrical generator in a single device fabricated as a multi-wafer stack. Other groups have worked on turhogenerator subsystems, for example by combining a turbine and an electrical generator on a single chip [SI.

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Figure I : Axial-flow microturbine with integrated axial-flux electromagnetic generator: (a) cross-section of device; (b) exploded view, cut away to show rotor blade and guide vane profiles (generatorparts not shown).

The axial-flow turhine geometry was chosen because it allows operation at low pressure ratios, as required for extraction of power directly from an ambient gas flow. Axial-flow turbines are difficult to realize by conventional microfabrication methods, because to produce the necessary

0-7803-8265-X/04/$17.00 02004 IEEE

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curved profiles on the rotor blades and guide vanes it is necessary to fabricate structures where the sidewall angle evolves with depth in a controlled manner. We have used a combination of conventional UV lithography and laser micromachining to produce SU8 polymer parts with the required profiles. The axial-flux geometry was chosen for the generator because it is compatible with planar spiral coils, which are well suited to microfabrication. This g e o m e e is well known from larger scale machines [6], and has also been used previously in mm-scale motors [7].

nominal shaft speed of 30,000 rpm and a pressure ratio of 1.05. The same cross-sectional shape was used both for the rotor blades the inlet stator guide vanes, with straight guide vanes being used on the outlet stator.

2. DEVICE DESIGN FABRICATION AND

Prototype devices have been fabricated by a combination of silicon deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), electroplating, and laser micromachining. The device size was dictated by the decision to use conventional ball-race bearings (3 mm-dia) and commercial 1 mm-dia NdBFe (neodymium boron iron) permanent magnets. This led to a design with inner and outer radii of 2.1 mm and 3.7 mm for the electromagnetic generator section, and 4.5 mm and 6.0 mm for the turbine annulus. The rotor thickness was made equal to the permanent magnet length of 1 mm. To form the stators, soft magnetic material was electroplated into an annular cavity formed on the backside of a 4"-dia silicon substrate by DRIE. Two-layer spiral coils were then formed on the front side by copper electroplating into thick resist moulds. The coils were embedded in SUS, which also formed the mask for through-wafer etching of the turbine fluid channel. Further details of this process are contained in [XI. Fig. 2 shows an SEM image of a partially fabricated stator, immediately prior to embedding of the second coil layer.

Figure 3: SEMphotagraph of SU8 polymer rotor with laser micromachined 3 0 blades, viewedporn inlet side. Scale bar is 1 mm.
Following the laser machining process, permanent magnets and a precision machined steel shaft were manually inserted into the cavities in the rotor, and secured with SUS which was applied with a needle and cured by UV flood exposure and heating. The entire device was then assembled on a metal jig with integral pins to align the two stators. An SUS spacer was used to define the gap between the stators. Fig. 4 shows a completed device viewed from the outlet side, with the guide vane insert removed to reveal the rotor,

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Figure 2: SEM photograph o partially fabricated stator, f showing electroplatedplanar coils. Scale bar is 200 p.
The rotors were preformed by 2-layer SUS photolithography, and then laser machined to define the curved turbine blade profiles (see Fig. 3 ) . A variable aperture mask, under computer numerical control, was used during laser machining to achieve the required blade profiles [9]. The guide vanes were formed in SUS stator inserts using a similar approach. The rotor blades and guide vanes were designed on paper using standard turbomachinery practice, assuming a

3. CFD SIMULATIONS
CFD numerical simulations of the turbine stage have been camed out using CFX-TASCflow software. The geometry modelled is shown in Fig. 5 , and corresponds to the actual blade profiles realised. These differ from the paper design in that no attempt was made to introduce rounding on the leading edges of the blades. Also, the outlet stator was omitted as it was not included in the prototype devices.

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A relatively coarse mesh of 30,000 elements was used to model overall stage performance, refined near the blade surfaces to improve the modelling of flow separation. A k-w Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model was used as this is recommended for the accurate prediction of flow separation near smooth walls for low-Reynolds number computations. Walls were modelled as smooth and tip clearances were not included as the priority was to produce performance maps in order to understand the hasic operating characteristics of the turbine.

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test jig comprising a long tube with a bore matched to the outer diameter of the turbine annulus. Inlet and outlet cones were attached to central portions of the stators on either side of the device to reduce pressure losses associated with abrupt changes in the channel cross-section. The pressure drop across the device was measured by a manometer, connected via small (0.5 mm dia) holes in the tube immediately upstream and downstream of the device. The flow rate was measured by a precision gas flow meter (Cole Palmer, 16 series, range 0-250 SLPM). The temperatures at the entrance and exit of the device were also measured, using thermocouples.

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Figure 5: Geometry used for CFD model (all dimensions in mm).

Figure 6 shows a relative Mach number plot at midspan, assuming a rotation speed of 70,000 rpm and a pressure drop across the stage of 50 mbar. Even at this rotation speed the maximum relative Mach number is fairly low (less than 0.3), indicating that the turbine should be far from choked when operated at or below the design speed. Figure 7 is a streamline plot, which reveals regions of flow separation around the rotor and stator blades. These regions correspond to regions of high loss. Near the fronts of the blades, this can be attributed to the square leading edges. Rounding of these edges would improve performance, but would make the fabrication process more complex by requiring additional laser machining steps. By varying the CFD model boundary conditions (inlet pressure and rotational speed) a set of theoretical performance curves was produced for the turbine stage over a wide range of operating conditions. These indicated that the optimum (i.e. maximum efficiency) operating point for the machine is at a somewhat higher pressure ratio of around 1. I , and at a higher rotation speed of around 140 krpm. The theoretical power output of the device turbine under these conditions was found to be in excess of IO W. This result illustrates the high theoretical power densities that can be achieved, although such high power operation would not be possible in our devices because of materials limitations.
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Figure 6: Relative Mach number at mid-span for rotation speed of 70 b p m andpressure drop of 50 mbar.

Figure 7: Streamline plot fur same conditions as in Fig. 6.

Figure 8 shows the measured variation of pressure drop with flow rate up to around 60 LPM flow. Note that the threshold pressure head for activation of the device is very low at around 3 mbar. This is a key feature for direct extraction of power from an ambient flow. Figure 8 also shows CFD predictions for the same operating range. These

4. EXPEFUMENTAL TESTS
Functional tests of prototype devices have been performed with compressed nitrogen. The turbine was inserted into a

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data points were obtained by entering measured values for pressure drop and rotation rate, and extracting the expected flow rate. Given the approximate nature of the CFD model, the agreement between the experimental and theoretical curves is very good, lending credibility to the CFD calculations.

subject to small pressure ratios compatible with energy scavenging from ambient flows. However, comparison of the CFD and experimental results suggests that it should he possible either to (a) achieve similar output power levels with a smaller turbine andor lower pressure head if losses can he reduced, or @) generate higher output power levels with the same turbine if the power output capabilities of the generator can be enhanced. The latter could he achieved by increasing one or more of the following: the number of coil layers on each stator, the fill factor of the coils (copperldielectric ratio) or the number and/or strength of the permanent magnets. Placing the generator outside the turbine would also help to balance the maximum outputs of the two devices. We will explore these possibilities in future work.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Figure 8: Comparison between measured and predicted variations ofpressure drop with nitrogenflow rate.
Figure 9 shows the measured variation of generator output power (per stator, into a matched load of 40 Q) with rotation speed for a typical device. At a flow rate of 35 LPM, and a rotation speed of 30,000 rpm, each stator can deliver a power of 1.1 mW, which would be sufficient for many remote sensing applications. Note, however, that the generated power is only a small fraction (around I%) of the expected output power of the turbine as predicted by CFD. We believe that most of this power is being dissipated in windage and bearing losses
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This work was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, under Grant No. G R N I 8895 - Microengineered Axial-Flow Pumps and Turbines. Laser micromachining facilities were kindly provided by Exitech Limited, Oxford, UK. REFERENCES
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Figure 9: Comparison between measured electromagnetic generator output power and CFD-predicted turbine output power, both as function offlow rate.

5. DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS AND

The prototype devices described in this paper are already capable of generating potentially useful levels of power when

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