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Thermal performance of a meso-scale liquid-fuel combustor

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  • Vijayan, V.
  • Gupta, A.K.

Abstract

Combustion in small scale devices poses significant challenges due to the quenching of reactions from wall heat losses as well as the significantly reduced time available for mixing and combustion. In the case of liquid fuels there are additional challenges related to atomization, vaporization and mixing with the oxidant in the very short time-scale liquid-fuel combustor. The liquid fuel employed here is methanol with air as the oxidizer. The combustor was designed based on the heat recirculating concept wherein the incoming reactants are preheated by the combustion products through heat exchange occurring via combustor walls. The combustor was fabricated from Zirconium phosphate, a ceramic with very low thermal conductivity (0.8Â WÂ m-1Â K-1). The combustor had rectangular shaped double spiral geometry with combustion chamber in the center of the spiral formed by inlet and exhaust channels. Methanol and air were introduced immediately upstream at inlet of the combustor. The preheated walls of the inlet channel also act as a pre-vaporizer for liquid fuel which vaporizes the liquid fuel and then mixes with air prior to the fuel-air mixture reaching the combustion chamber. Rapid pre-vaporization of the liquid fuel by the hot narrow channel walls eliminated the necessity for a fuel atomizer. Self-sustained combustion of methanol-air was achieved in a chamber volume as small as 32.6Â mm3. The results showed stable combustion under fuel-rich conditions. High reactant preheat temperatures (675Â K-825Â K) were obtained; however, the product temperatures measured at the exhaust were on the lower side (475Â K-615Â K). The estimated combustor heat load was in the range 50Â W-280Â W and maximum power density of about 8.5Â GW/m3. This is very high when compared to macro-scale combustors. Overall energy efficiency of the combustor was estimated to be in the range of 12-20%. This suggests further scope of improvements in fuel-air mixing and mixture preparation.

Suggested Citation

  • Vijayan, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2011. "Thermal performance of a meso-scale liquid-fuel combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(7), pages 2335-2343, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:88:y:2011:i:7:p:2335-2343
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vijayan, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2010. "Combustion and heat transfer at meso-scale with thermal recuperation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(8), pages 2628-2639, August.
    2. Vijayan, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2010. "Flame dynamics of a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3718-3728, December.
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    1. Merotto, L. & Fanciulli, C. & Dondè, R. & De Iuliis, S., 2016. "Study of a thermoelectric generator based on a catalytic premixed meso-scale combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 346-353.
    2. Wierzbicki, Teresa A. & Lee, Ivan C. & Gupta, Ashwani K., 2015. "Rh assisted catalytic oxidation of jet fuel surrogates in a meso-scale combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 1-7.
    3. Tang, Aikun & Deng, Jiang & Cai, Tao & Xu, Yiming & Pan, Jianfeng, 2017. "Combustion characteristics of premixed propane/hydrogen/air in the micro-planar combustor with different channel-heights," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 635-642.
    4. Shirsat, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2011. "A review of progress in heat recirculating meso-scale combustors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4294-4309.
    5. Wierzbicki, Teresa A. & Lee, Ivan C. & Gupta, Ashwani K., 2014. "Performance of synthetic jet fuels in a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 41-47.
    6. Wierzbicki, Teresa A. & Lee, Ivan C. & Gupta, Ashwani K., 2014. "Combustion of propane with Pt and Rh catalysts in a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 350-356.
    7. Wang, Wei & Zuo, Zhengxing & Liu, Jinxiang, 2019. "Numerical study of the premixed propane/air flame characteristics in a partially filled micro porous combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 902-911.
    8. Vinay Sankar & Sreejith Sudarsanan & Sudipto Mukhopadhyay & Prabhu Selvaraj & Aravind Balakrishnan & Ratna Kishore Velamati, 2023. "Towards the Development of Miniature Scale Liquid Fuel Combustors for Power Generation Application—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-41, May.
    9. Akhtar, Saad & Khan, Mohammed N. & Kurnia, Jundika C. & Shamim, Tariq, 2017. "Investigation of energy conversion and flame stability in a curved micro-combustor for thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 134-145.
    10. Zuo, Wei & E, Jiaqiang & Hu, Wenyu & Jin, Yu & Han, Dandan, 2017. "Numerical investigations on combustion characteristics of H2/air premixed combustion in a micro elliptical tube combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Jiaqiang, E. & Zuo, Wei & Liu, Xueling & Peng, Qingguo & Deng, Yuanwang & Zhu, Hao, 2016. "Effects of inlet pressure on wall temperature and exergy efficiency of the micro-cylindrical combustor with a step," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 337-345.
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    13. Shirsat, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2013. "Extinction, discharge, and thrust characteristics of methanol fueled meso-scale thrust chamber," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 375-392.

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