ITSI Transactions on Electrical and Electronics Engineering (ITSI-TEEE) ______

Power Supply Using Earth Battery

1Harish D, 2T S Dhanalakshmi, 3Gireesh H R 1,2,3RRCE, Bangalore

electronic devices. They can also be considered to Abstract: In view of robust and cost effective use of this natural power technology by unskilled village consumers replace high voltage low current charging power most suitable combinations of the commonly available supplies or ionization power supplies. Like earth were selected for further detailed characteristic batteries the sea batteries also may be considered for studies. Combinations of anode and similar applications. However, air batteries can be used cathode: anode and , cathode: Aluminum for bulk power production and grid system operation [3]. anode and cathode; Zinc anode and In view of global energy crisis to be caused by natural cathodes gave 2.05, 1.40, 1.10 and 0.9 volts per cell. Typical end of oil and gas within next 50 to60 years time [9-11], rated power of a single Zn-Cu cell was measured to be few it has become very important to look for alternative tens of microamperes. Small power electronic devices such energy sources to hold back the human race from as calculators, electronic watches, baby toys and cell phones and white light LEDs were operated on site. The engagement to a great energy war [12-13]. Although, voltage level was found to increase linearly by connecting uranium [14] and coal [9] would continue to exist for multiple earth battery cells in series like commercial few centuries but they cannot replace oil and gas despite acid battery. The load current was found to increase by risks of radioactivity hazards (plutonium) and connecting earth cells in parallel. The source current greenhouse gases (CO2). Either, we can stop global capacities were also found to increase by increasing surface warming at risk of nuclear radiation or make the planet areas of the . However, single cell voltage was nuclear free at risk of global warming due to increasing found to remain constant irrespective of the sizes. temperatures from1.4 to 5.8ºC from 1990 to 2100 by This paper reports detailed characteristic study of the most exponentially rising CO2 concentrations. Rise in earth cost effective and accessible electrodes earth batteries. Thus a pair of positive and negative electrodes surface temperature in past ten hot years (1997-2007) inserted in kept in an insulating container is a ‘soil was about 0.6ºC. Maximum temperature has been cell’. The voltage can be increased by connecting multiple recorded to be 52ºC in major cities of Pakistan and 46ºC electrodes in series and current by connecting soil cells in in Greece. Cool the home and heat the planet or adapt to parallel. Series and parallel combination of soil cells natural ways of life. We must stop use of excessive becomes a ‘soil battery’. Thus a small grid comprising of energy for entertainment and retune ourselves to new soil battery and a secondary battery can be used as an lifestyles requiring minimum amount of energy in the power supply with the optimum source in terms of power form of cooling or heating. The scientists must work driving the load. The output of the earth battery is fed to a hard to explore new sources of energy else be prepared dc to dc converter to main a stable direct current further it is fed to the power booster. Power booster is also known as to be perished soon in a great energy war or global the step-up converter. As the name implies it’s typically greenhouse effect none knows which prevails earlier. application of converting a low input-voltage to a high out- This work is a very honest effort to investigate the put voltage, essentially functioning like a reversed buck possibility of using earth batteries for remote village converter. [25] lighting, communication signaling and driving small Keywords: Earth Battery, Dc To Dc Converter, Power scale electronic loads where there is no alternate source Booster of electricity or simple to conserve electricity. [15-17]. I. INTRODUCTION The soil battery, or the „microbial fuel cell‟ as it is also called can provide enough voltage and current to light Reported free energy holy grails may include LED bulbs and thus can be used on a small-term basis electrostatic motors, geo-magnetic generators [1-2], air for lighting a small cabinet (8feet by 10feet [3], sea [4] and earth batteries [5-8]. Some free energy approximately). The paper focuses on the following believers have often been focusing on the perpetual aspects: motion machines using scientifically unworkable ideas 1. To provide renewable, environmental friendly and such as over unity devices, millennium motors, cost-efficient energy source. resonance based self-charging and freewheeling devices. There exists nothing as free energy source such as 2. Provide electricity that could run a load of voltage mutual powering motor-generator set without any net 6V and power 4.5Watts. input or gravity based free running machines or negative resistance based amplification. However, earth soil chemical reactions and electron affinity based earth batteries may be explored for low to high voltage DC potential to drive small scale white emission LED lighting loads in remote hilly areas or small scale ______ISSN (PRINT) : 2320 – 8945, Volume -4, Issue -2, 2016 61 ITSI Transactions on Electrical and Electronics Engineering (ITSI-TEEE) ______

II. EXPLANATION OF COMPONENTS Anode materials Cathode materials Battery USED Material Volts Material Volts volts (v) (V) A. Soil conductivity: Magnesium -1.75 Coke +0.30 2.05 Soil conductivity is an important parameter for the Zinc -1.10 Graphite +0.30 1.40 working of earth battery. Soil conductivity determines Zinc -1.10 Copper +0.20 0.90 the output power of the cell. The conduction of -0.80 Carbon +0.30 1.10 electricity in soil takes place through the moisture-filled -0.50 Coal +0.30 0.80 pores that occur between individual particles. Table 2.1 Potential of common metals suitable for earth Therefore, the electrical conductivity of soil is battery determined by the following soil properties.[22] 1. Porosity: The greater soil porosity, the more easily III. IMPLEMENTATION electricity is conducted. Soil with high clay content 3.1 Proposed Block diagram has higher porosity than sandier soil. Compaction normally increases soil electrical conductivity.[22] There will be three sources to drive the load: . 2. Water content: Dry soil is much lower in 1. Energy from soil. conductivity than moist soil. [22] 2. Secondary source as battery. 3. Salinity level: Increasing concentration of (salts) in soil water will dramatically Dc-Dc Power Soil Energy increase soil electrical conductivity. The salinity Converter Booster level in most soils is very low. [22] 4. Cation exchange capacity (CEC): Mineral soil containing high levels of organic matter (humus) Battery Logical and/or 2:1 clay minerals such as montmorillonite, Switch illite, or vermiculite have a much higher ability to retain positively charged ions (such as Ca, Mg, K, Load Na, NH4, or H) than soil lacking these constituents. The presence of these ions in the Fig 3.1 Proposed block diagram moisture-filled soil pores will enhance soil electrical conductivity in the same way that salinity An experimental study was conducted to measure exact does.[22] voltages and currents of an earth battery cells consisting of zinc and copper electrodes. The electrodes 5. Temperature: As temperature decreases toward the arrangement on earth‟s surface in open air environment freezing point of water, soil electrical conductivity consists of simple pricking of pointed electrodes on decreases slightly. Below freezing, soil pores earth‟s surface. The electrode soil reaction voltage become increasingly insulated from each other and 0.92V may be used to drive small scale lighting and overall soil EC declines rapidly. [22] electronic loads. Outside on bare earth the currents and B. Metal electrodes: voltages were found higher at smaller distances and lower at relatively larger distances between cathode and An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make anodes. The voltages and currents readings were found contact with a non-metallic part of a circuit (e.g. a unstable on the digital multi-meter. Repetition of above semiconductor, an or a vacuum). An experiment with interchange of electrodes from north to electrode in an electrochemical cell is referred to as south resulted in relatively increased voltages and either an anode or a cathode. The anode is now defined currents. Average magnitudes of voltages and currents as the electrode at which electrons leave the cell and were measured to be 0.91±0.15V and 0.7±0.25mA for oxidation occurs, and the cathode as the electrode at multiple electrodes. Earth battery potential depends which electrons enter the cell and reduction occurs. Each upon the electrode materials and their standard reduction electrode may become either the anode or the cathode potentials. If we choose higher positive and negative depending on the direction of current through the cell. reduction materials the earth battery voltage can be The electrodes act as way to tap the energy from the enhanced. Theoretical voltage of Zn-Cu earth battery is . These electrodes have different potential in the 0.92V but our measurements conducted with UNIT soil since different metals have different strengths to professional digital VOAM # 1050444792 (Korea) were oxidize or get reduced. The potential difference thus about 0.90±0.25V. To construct a high voltage battery produced depends on the difference of the potential of suitable electrodes must be chosen. Common metals electrodes used as cathode and anode. The table shows behave similarly except current magnitude depends on different electrodes with their potential. To get electrode Surface areas. Variation of measured maximum potential difference from the cell the fluctuating voltages and currents are shown in Figure electrodes with maximum separation must be used. below. ______ISSN (PRINT) : 2320 – 8945, Volume -4, Issue -2, 2016 62 ITSI Transactions on Electrical and Electronics Engineering (ITSI-TEEE) ______

IV. RESULTS we practically tested the combination of electrodes. The following experiment was conducted on moist soil. The type of soil was medium black soil. As seen from the table, though the voltage obtained from carbon-zinc electrode pair is more, the total power is less as compared to copper-zinc. Hence we selected copper- zinc pair for our final implementation. Fig 3.2 : Copper (south)-Zinc (north) earth battery Type of soil Voltage Current voltages and currents (V) (mA) Dry black soil 0.75 0.01 It was supposed that the measurements made outside on Moist black soil 0.8 3.3 bare earth might have extra telluric earth currents in Red soil 0.78 2.88 addition to the normal earth battery currents. Further to Red soil with salt 0.785 8.6 estimate the impact of telluric earth currents on the natural directions on measured values of currents and Soil under Tulsi plant 0.787 12.5 voltages, the zinc electrode was fixed in earth and Moist black soil with salt 0.8 30 copper electrode was rotated for multiple directions Table 4.1 Soil properties from 0º (north) to 90º (east) to180º (south) and to 270º (west). The voltages and currents at fixed radius of 9 From the experiments conducted we came to conclusion feet circle were found to vary slightly vary in that maximum power generated is by using moist black magnitudes as shown in Figure below. soil with salt added. So our soil cell consists of two metal electrodes copper (positive) and zinc (negative). The electrolyte is the moist black soil with salt added to it. This is kept in an insulating container of plastic. This cell is capable of giving 0.8volts and current of 30 mA. We tried testing LED of mill watts as load to the soil battery. We connected twelve pair of copper – zinc electrode in series. Each cell was kept in an insulating container (plastic box).The output we got was 3.42volts and 30mA of current. The LED glowed with its full intensity and This proved that the power generated by soil battery is a reliable source and our experiment was successful.

V. FUTURE SCOPE Fig 3.3 : Earth battery V/I characteristics for fixed zinc The interest in the soil and making a active device and mobile copper electrode without any external supply made us think differently A DC-to-DC converter is an electronic circuit which and make a successful project up on earth battery. If the converts a source of direct current from one voltage earth can produce the charge means it can absorb the level to another. Electronic switch-mode DC to DC charge too. Then making a simple digital gate (NOT converters operate by storing the input energy gate) can also be done in future. temporarily and then releasing that energy to the output REFERENCES at a different voltage and current. Just like a transformer, they essentially just change the input energy into a [1] COMSATS Inst. Of Inf.technol, Islamabad different impedance level. So whatever the output DOI:10.1109/ICEE.2008.4553917 conference: voltage level, the output power all comes from the input, Electrical Engineering, 2008. ICEE 2008. second there's no energy manufactured inside the converter. In International conference on Source: IEEEXplore. fact some energy is used by the converter circuitry and [2] Gish, O. H., “The Natural Electric Currents in the components while doing their job. It is this principle that Earth's Crust,” The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 32, makes a DC-DC Converter essential. Thus load pp.5-2, 1989. variation in turn causes a change in the operating point of the panel. Thus by controlling the operation of the [3] G. M. Hopkins, “Experimental Science: DC-DC converter, the power output of the panel can be Elementary, Practical and Experimental Physics. improved. The boost converter is also known as the Munn & Co.,.pp. 437 – 451, 1902. step-up converter. As the name implies it‟s typically [4] J. Cooper, “Powering Future Vehicles with application of converting a low input-voltage to a high Refuelable Zinc/Air Battery,” Science & out-put voltage, essentially functioning like a reversed Technology Review, pp. 6-13, October 1995. buck converter. [25] ______ISSN (PRINT) : 2320 – 8945, Volume -4, Issue -2, 2016 63 ITSI Transactions on Electrical and Electronics Engineering (ITSI-TEEE) ______

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