Analysis of a Wireless Power Transfer System Based on the Interaction of Very High Permittivity Dielectric Resonators with a Contained Aqueous Solution

TL;DR

This paper presents an analysis of wireless power transfer using high dielectric resonators interacting with an aqueous solution, demonstrating efficient transfer mechanisms and robustness to medium losses and asymmetries.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled mode theory-based model for high dielectric resonators in aqueous media, revealing new insights into coupling mechanisms and system robustness.

Findings

Coupling mechanism is reciprocal and accurately modeled.

Sizing resonators reduces the need for ultra-high dielectric materials.

System tolerates medium losses and asymmetries, maintaining efficiency.

Abstract

An ab-initio analysis based on coupled mode theory (CMT) is applied to describe the interaction dynamics of high dielectric resonators (DRs) with its containing aqueous solution. We prove that the coupling mechanism is reciprocal. Such property is exploited to find closed form and accurate expressions of the coupling coefficient, the main factor characterizing the system performance. Based on such expressions, it is shown that, for wireless power transfer (WPT) applications, up sizing the DRs relaxes the need of using ultra high dielectric constant materials. The nature of interaction is captured by the coupling matrix, which shows that the behaviour of the system is identical to the ones studied extensively in the literature when the contained aqueous solution is replaced by an enclosing cavity. It follows, as in a typical three coupled resonators setting, that when two DRs are inserted in the aqueous solution a non-bonding mode emerges; hence enabling efficient wireless power transfer (WPT) via the opening of an electromagnetic induced transparency like window. Due to the inevitable situations where the DRs are not symmetrically placed inside the solution, the general eigenvalue problem, with asymmetrically placed DR inserts is solved and the eigenvectors representing the coupled modes are depicted by vectors in a 3D mathematical space where the uncoupled modes represent its basis. Moreover, the strong coupling between the DR inserts and the aqueous medium allows the proposed WPT system to tolerate intrinsic aqueous solution losses and the presence of extraneous objects. Additionally, the value of the load at maximum efficiency is independent of the aqueous solution loss tangent, thus tolerating the variation of the medium salinity. The Proposed EIT like scheme can find applications for mid/short range power transfer in/through swimming pools, chemical reactors, fish tanks, etc.