Study on premixed combustion in cylindrical micro combustors: Transient flame behavior and wall heat flux

Abstract The micro combustor is a key component of the micro thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system. Improving the wall temperature of the micro combustor is an effective way to elevate the system efficiency. An experimental study on the wall temperature and radiation heat flux of a series of cylindrical micro combustors (with a backward-facing step) was carried out. For the micro combustors with d  = 2 mm, the regime of successful ignition (under the cold wall condition) was identified for different combustor lengths. Acoustic emission was detected for some cases and the emitted sound was recorded and analyzed. Under the steady-state condition, the effects of the combustor diameter ( d ), combustor length ( L ), flow velocity ( u 0 ) and fuel–air equivalence ratio ( Ф ) on the wall temperature distribution were investigated by measuring the detailed wall temperature profiles. In the case that the micro combustor is working as an emitter, the optimum efficiency was found at Ф  ≈ 0.8, independent of the combustor dimensions ( d and L ) and the flow velocity. Under the experimental conditions employed in the present study, the positions of the peak wall temperature were found to be about 8–11 mm and 4–6 mm from the step for the d  = 3 mm and d  = 2 mm micro combustors, respectively, which are 8–11 and 8–12 times of their respective step heights. This result suggests that the backward-facing step employed in the combustor design is effective in stabilizing the flame position.