Present technology has been shifting towards miniaturization of devices for energy production for\nportable electronics. Micro-combustors, when incorporated into a micro-power generation system,\ncreate the energy desired in the form of hot gases to power such technology. This creates the need\nfor a design optimization of the micro-combustor in terms of geometry, fuel choice, and material\nselection. A total of five micro-combustor geometries, three fuels, and three materials were computationally\nsimulated in different configurations in order to determine the optimal micro-combustor\ndesign for highest efficiency. Inlet velocity, equivalence ratio, and wall heat transfer coefficient\nwere varied in order to test a comprehensive range of micro-combustor parameters. All simulations\ncompleted for the optimization study used ANSYS Fluent v16.1 and post-processing of\nthe data was done in CFD Post v16.1. It was found that for lean, premixed fuel-air mixtures ( =\n0.6 - 0.9) ethane (C2H6) provided the highest flame temperatures when ignited within the microcombustor\ngeometries. An aluminum oxide converging micro-combustor burning ethane and air\nat an equivalence ratio of 0.9, an inlet velocity of 0.5 m/s, and heat transfer coefficient of 5 W/m2-K\nwas found to produce the highest combustor efficiency, making it the optimal choice for a microcombustor\ndesign. It is proposed that this geometry be experimentally and computationally investigated\nfurther in order to determine if additional optimization can be achieved
Loading....