IT vendorResearch and development division
Challenge of Powering IoT Devices to Monitor Ageing InfrastructureEngineers encountered unexpected hurdles when attempting to transmit monitoring data in punishing environments
Solutions
Maintenance-free Diagnostic System Now Within Reach
Solution Offered by EnerCera battery
The highly resilient EnerCera ET battery series can be used for extended periods in extreme heat and cold, making maintenance-free operation a reality.
The ET battery series offers high power output─ample for supporting long-term sensing and data transmission.
The ET battery series also features low internal resistance, enabling the minuscule currents elicited from solar cells, vibration generation, and other energy harvesting devices to be stored.
At no larger than 20mm in diameter and 1.6mm thick, the compact EnerCera battery series also helps reduce device size.
A small lithium-ion rechargeable battery “EnerCera” solves all at once
At his wits end, the engineer in charge began looking into whether it would be possible to use NGK’s ultracompact lithium-ion rechargeable EnerCera battery, which was receiving attention in the media. After consulting the EnerCera battery website, which provides information on the battery’s specifications and potential applications, the engineer decided there was a good chance that EnerCera battery could solve the problem, and immediately made enquiries with NGK to discuss his team’s issues. A few days later, a representative of NGK visited the vendor to share information on EnerCera battery and made specific proposals on solving the team’s problems. For example, the coin-shaped ET battery series are able to provide stable power output at temperatures ranging from -42 to 105°C, enabling the battery to safely power any outdoor predictive maintenance system, even in regions with heavy snowfall. The representative said EnerCera battery was powerful enough to operate sensing and data transmission functions for long periods of time, even in punishing environments, enabling a maintenance-free solution.
Predictive Maintenance System Leverages Power Harvesting
The research and development team used the EnerCera ET battery series samples provided to develop and assess several prototypes. The results all exceeded the developers’ expectations. Even in tests designed to simulate extreme hot and cold, the EnerCera ET batteries provided a stable power supply, powering both modules without issue. The EnerCera ET battery series’ low internal resistance also means that it can efficiently store minuscule currents, making more realistic the prospect of charging using solar, vibration generation, and other power harvesting technologies─something the team initially thought was impossible. Furthermore, the batteries in the EnerCera Coin battery range are all no larger than 20mm in diameter and 1.6mm thick. This compact profile helped reduce the size of the sensor system.
Straight away, the team started field testing. EnerCera battery easily passed repeated charge testing, suggesting the team would be able to make a zero-maintenance system a reality.
The research and development team is currently further fine-tuning the IoT predictive maintenance system in preparation for an upcoming appraisal with related businesses.
