Potential of Ambient Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting from an Industrial Dielectric Heater

Dielectric heaters are mainly used in industry for various applications. Due to generation of near field energy from stray electromagnetic fields, these machines were selected for analysis as a source for RF energy harvesting. In this research, the energy harvester was designed using a ferrite core loop antenna, rectifying and smoothing circuit and an ultra-low power management system in order to provide energy to a temperature and humidity sensor node. This application was tested within the footwear manufacturing industry due to availability of dielectric heaters (RF Welding Machine) and temperature and humidity are continuously measured during the production process.