Autonomous Battery-Less Vibration IIoT Powered by Waste Heat for Chemical Plants Using NB-IoT

Most of the greenhouse gases that human activity emits into the atmosphere are due to the energy inefficiency of big industries. Industrial processes (such as furnaces, kilns, or boilers, to cite some) require a large amount of energy for transforming the raw material into final products. However, a large part of this energy is lost in waste heat. As a clear example, in the EU27, it is estimated that 21% of the yearly energy needs are lost in industrial waste heat. This work presents a novel waste heat-powered long-range wireless and battery-less Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) device. It is conceived to measure and predict machinery vibrations. This self-powered and autonomous device will help energy-demanding industries (for example, chemical, petrochemical, oil refineries, paper, or iron & steel) become more environmentally friendly and profitable in their digitalization transition towards Industry 4.0 paradigm. Moreover, thanks to being continued powered by thermoelectric generators (see abstract figure), they are battery-less, enabling long-range wireless protocols adoption such as NB-IoT, eliminating in-house wireless infrastructure, and incorporating edge computing. This capability reduces up to 98% of the cloud computation effort, and its GHG emissions contribution due to data can be computed inside the IoT device. These capabilities are tough to find in battery-powered IoT due to their battery life limitations.