Characteristics of air and oxy-fuel combustion in micro-channels

Abstract

With the fast development of MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) devices the demand for miniaturized power source is increasing quickly. A micro-combustor is one of the key components of these devices in which the fuel-air mixture is burnt. In the past few years, intense research efforts have been made on catalytic micro-reactors using hydrocarbons as fuel for a variety of portable power production systems. The applications of these micro-reactors include scaled-down thermal engines, wherein a catalytic micro-burner is used for the direct conversion of chemical energy to thermal energy, catalytic micro-thrusters for space applications, and micro-reactors used for fuel reforming in micro solid oxide fuel cells. The present work is aimed at developing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach for the investigation of characteristics of air and oxy-fuel combustion in micro-channels. The simulations are based on the numerical solution of the conservation of mass, momentum, energy and species equations of two dimensional flows. The present work as being related to micro-channels will provide a basis for development of new technologies such as carbon-free combustors for use in gas turbines and boilers in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Paper presented to the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.