Title :
Autonomous ultra-low power DC/DC converter for Microbial Fuel Cells
Author :
Adami, S.E. ; Degrenne, N. ; Vollaire, C. ; Allard, B. ; Buret, F. ; Costa, F.
Author_Institution :
Ampere Lab., Univ. of Lyon, Lyon, France
Abstract :
In this paper, an ultra-low voltage and power DC/DC converter is presented. This converter harvests energy from a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) in order to feed another circuit such as an autonomous wireless sensor. The MFC behaves as a voltage generator of 475mV open-circuit voltage with a 600Ω serial internal impedance. The maximum delivered power is therefore around 100μW. The DC/DC converter provides output voltage in the range 2-7.5V and performs impedance matching with source. The converter achieves when associated with the MFC, 60% peak efficiency. Furthermore, this DC/DC converter is self-operating without the need for external power source of start-up assistance.
Keywords :
DC-DC power convertors; impedance matching; microbial fuel cells; MFC; autonomous ultra-low power DC/DC converter; autonomous wireless sensor; impedance matching; microbial fuel cells; open-circuit voltage; power 100 muW; ultra-low voltage DC/DC converter; voltage 2 V to 7.5 V; voltage 475 mV; DC-DC power converters; Energy harvesting; Fuel cells; Impedance matching; JFETs; Logic gates; Resistance;
Conference_Titel :
Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS), 2011 18th IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Beirut
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1845-8
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1844-1
DOI :
10.1109/ICECS.2011.6122297
