Associate Professor Lei Zuo , left , speaks to WDBJ7 reporter Justin Ward in August and explains to him how his mechanical motion rectifier converts oscillatory vibration motion into unidirectional rotation and can help soldiers recharge their batteries by harvesting energy created by walking . Ward ' s story on the technology was featured on a story you can view here .
other data through the wall of the canister to receivers outside that can be transmitted to user data .”
Zuo ’ s harvesting system will use a tungsten plate , or a target , to absorb the gamma radiation within the canister to create a hot spot . The tungsten target then will create a pocket of temperature difference between the plate and the outside metal wall , which will enable Zuo ’ s team to harvest power within the differential temperature space .
The self-powered sensor and data communication could last for decades , potentially increasing the life expectancy of spent fuel canisters . Similar technology can also be applied to pressure nuclear reactor vessels .
As primary investigator , Zuo will collaborate with the University of North Texas , Oak Ridge National Laboratory , and Westinghouse Electric Company , to design the energy harvesters and coordinate the system integration . Co-principal investigator Haifeng Zhang , associate professor of mechanical engineering technology at the University of North Texas , will lead the ultrasound data transmission team .
With the support of Dong Ha , professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech , Oak Ridge National Laboratory co-principal investigators will head the high-temperature electronics for energy storage , sensing , and data transmission team . Westinghouse will provide guidelines from the nuclear power industry perspective and support the radiation tests and system validation .
This is a third project from Department of Energy Nuclear Engineering Program that Lei Zuo has won . He has an ongoing Nuclear Energy University Program project with collaborators at University of North Texas and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on energy harvesting and temperature / pressure sensing in the extreme harsh environments of severe nuclear accidents .
Articles - Rosaire Bushey