GENERATOR AND CIRCUIT UTILIZING FLUID-INDUCED OSCILLATIONS

摘要

An energy converter for inducing membrane vibrations when subject to a fluid flow and converting the kinetic energy embedded in the fluid flow into another form of energy, such as electricity. The energy converter may include a supporting structure and multiple generator units. Each generator unit may include at least one flexible membrane, and at least one electrical conductor and at least one magnetic field generator configured to apply a magnetic field to the at least one electrical conductor, wherein one of the electrical conductor and the magnetic field generator may be attached to the membrane and configured to move with the membrane. Each membrane may vibrate when subject to the fluid flow and may have two ends supported by the supporting structure. The vibration of each membrane may create a relative movement between the conductor and a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generator, which may induce a current. A power conditioning circuit is provided to condition the current.