IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v122y2017icp408-419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Numerical investigations on a comparison between counterflow and coflow double-channel micro combustors for micro-thermophotovoltaic system

Author

Listed:
  • Zuo, Wei
  • E, Jiaqiang
  • Peng, Qingguo
  • Zhao, Xiaohuan
  • Zhang, Zhiqing

Abstract

A high and uniform wall temperature on micro combustors is desirable for Micro-TPV system application. In this work, extensive numerical investigations of H2/air premixed combustion in the coflow and counterflow double-channel micro combustors are conducted under various H2 mass flow rates, H2/air equivalence ratios and solid materials. Moreover, in order to characterize the uniformity of wall temperature, a nonuniformity coefficient RT,w is introduced. Results show that the mean outer wall temperature of the coflow double-channel micro combustor is slightly higher than that of the counterflow double-channel micro combustor and the outer wall temperature nonuniformity of the counterflow double-channel micro combustor is greatly lower than that of the coflow double-channel micro combustor, meaning that the counterflow double-channel micro combustor has better thermal performance than the coflow double-channel micro combustor. More importantly, some critical values about the H2 mass flow rate, H2/air equivalence ratio and solid material are determined for keeping the better thermal performance of the counterflow double-channel micro combustor. This design offers us another way for assembling the single-channel micro combustor into the double-channel micro combustor.

Suggested Citation

  • Zuo, Wei & E, Jiaqiang & Peng, Qingguo & Zhao, Xiaohuan & Zhang, Zhiqing, 2017. "Numerical investigations on a comparison between counterflow and coflow double-channel micro combustors for micro-thermophotovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 408-419.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:122:y:2017:i:c:p:408-419
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.01.079
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217300798
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.01.079?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wu, Gang & Jin, Xiao & Li, Qiangtian & Zhao, He & Ahmed, I.R. & Fu, Jianqin, 2016. "Experimental and numerical definition of the extreme heater locations in a closed-open standing wave thermoacoustic system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 320-330.
    2. Zuo, Wei & E, Jiaqiang & Liu, Haili & Peng, Qingguo & Zhao, Xiaohuan & Zhang, Zhiqing, 2016. "Numerical investigations on an improved micro-cylindrical combustor with rectangular rib for enhancing heat transfer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 77-87.
    3. Wan, Jianlong & Fan, Aiwu & Yao, Hong & Liu, Wei, 2016. "Experimental investigation and numerical analysis on the blow-off limits of premixed CH4/air flames in a mesoscale bluff-body combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 193-203.
    4. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V. & Leahy, M., 2011. "The first step towards a 100% renewable energy-system for Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 502-507, February.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Zhao, Dan & Li, Shihuai & Yang, Wenming & Zhang, Zhiguo, 2015. "Numerical investigation of the effect of distributed heat sources on heat-to-sound conversion in a T-shaped thermoacoustic system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 204-213.
    8. Akhtar, Saad & Kurnia, Jundika C. & Shamim, Tariq, 2015. "A three-dimensional computational model of H2–air premixed combustion in non-circular micro-channels for a thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 47-57.
    9. Shirsat, V. & Gupta, A.K., 2011. "Performance characteristics of methanol and kerosene fuelled meso-scale heat-recirculating combustors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 5069-5082.
    10. 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.
    11. Zhao, Dan & Li, Lei, 2015. "Effect of choked outlet on transient energy growth analysis of a thermoacoustic system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 502-510.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Li, Yueh-Heng & Chen, Guan-Bang & Cheng, Tsarng-Sheng & Yeh, Yean-Ling & Chao, Yei-Chin, 2013. "Combustion characteristics of a small-scale combustor with a percolated platinum emitter tube for thermophotovoltaics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 150-157.
    15. Baigmohammadi, Mohammadreza & Tabejamaat, Sadegh & Zarvandi, Jalal, 2015. "Numerical study of the behavior of methane-hydrogen/air pre-mixed flame in a micro reactor equipped with catalytic segmented bluff body," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 117-144.
    16. Wan, Jianlong & Fan, Aiwu & Yao, Hong & Liu, Wei, 2015. "Effect of pressure on the blow-off limits of premixed CH4/air flames in a mesoscale cavity-combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 102-109.
    17. Chou, S.K. & Yang, W.M. & Li, J. & Li, Z.W., 2010. "Porous media combustion for micro thermophotovoltaic system applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2862-2867, September.
    18. Chou, S.K. & Yang, W.M. & Chua, K.J. & Li, J. & Zhang, K.L., 2011. "Development of micro power generators - A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 1-16, January.
    19. Tedesco, Silvia & Mac Lochlainn, Dubhaltach & Olabi, Abdul Ghani, 2014. "Particle size reduction optimization of Laminaria spp. biomass for enhanced methane production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 857-862.
    20. Zhao, Dan & Ji, Chenzhen & Li, Shihuai & Li, Junwei, 2014. "Thermodynamic measurement and analysis of dual-temperature thermoacoustic oscillations for energy harvesting application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 517-526.
    21. 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.
    22. Gota, Dan-Ioan & Lund, Henrik & Miclea, Liviu, 2011. "A Romanian energy system model and a nuclear reduction strategy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 6413-6419.
    23. Lund, Henrik & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Stadler, Ingo, 2011. "Towards 100% renewable energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 419-421, February.
    24. Li, Shen & Li, Qiangtian & Tang, Lin & Yang, Bin & Fu, Jianqin & Clarke, C.A. & Jin, Xiao & Ji, C.Z. & Zhao, He, 2016. "Theoretical and experimental demonstration of minimizing self-excited thermoacoustic oscillations by applying anti-sound technique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 399-407.
    25. Pan, J.F. & Wu, D. & Liu, Y.X. & Zhang, H.F. & Tang, A.K. & Xue, H., 2015. "Hydrogen/oxygen premixed combustion characteristics in micro porous media combustor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 802-807.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zuo, Wei & Li, Qingqing & He, Zhu & Li, Yawei, 2020. "Numerical investigations on thermal performance enhancement of hydrogen-fueled micro planar combustors with injectors for micro-thermophotovoltaic applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Zuo, Wei & Zhang, Yuntian & Li, Qingqing & Li, Jing & He, Zhu, 2021. "Numerical investigations on hydrogen-fueled micro-cylindrical combustors with cavity for micro-thermophotovoltaic applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    3. Tang, Aikun & Cai, Tao & Deng, Jiang & Zhao, Dan & Huang, Qiuhan & Zhou, Chen, 2019. "Experimental study on flame structure transitions of premixed propane/air in micro-scale planar combustors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 558-570.
    4. Gentillon, Philippe & Singh, Siddharth & Lakshman, Suhas & Zhang, Zhaolun & Paduthol, Appu & Ekins-Daukes, N.J. & Chan, Qing N. & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "A comprehensive experimental characterisation of a novel porous media combustion-based thermophotovoltaic system with controlled emission," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    5. Bani, Stephen & Pan, Jianfeng & Tang, Aikun & Lu, Qingbo & Zhang, Yi, 2018. "Numerical investigation of key parameters of the porous media combustion based Micro-Thermophotovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 969-978.
    6. Zuo, Wei & Li, Jing & Zhang, Yuntian & Li, Qingqing & He, Zhu, 2020. "Effects of multi-factors on comprehensive performance of a hydrogen-fueled micro-cylindrical combustor by combining grey relational analysis and analysis of variance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    7. Yilmaz, Harun & Cam, Omer & Yilmaz, Ilker, 2017. "Effect of micro combustor geometry on combustion and emission behavior of premixed hydrogen/air flames," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 585-597.
    8. Aravind, B. & Khandelwal, Bhupendra & Kumar, Sudarshan, 2018. "Experimental investigations on a new high intensity dual microcombustor based thermoelectric micropower generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1173-1181.
    9. Nemitallah, Medhat & Alkhaldi, Shabeeb & Abdelhafez, Ahmed & Habib, Mohamed, 2018. "Effect analysis on the macrostructure and static stability limits of oxy-methane flames in a premixed swirl combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 86-96.
    10. Yang, Xiao & He, Zhihong & Cha, Suna & Zhao, Lei & Dong, Shikui & Tan, Heping, 2020. "Parametric analysis on the combustion and thermal performance of a swirl micro-combustor for micro thermophotovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Aravind, B. & Khandelwal, Bhupendra & Ramakrishna, P.A. & Kumar, Sudarshan, 2020. "Towards the development of a high power density, high efficiency, micro power generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    12. Cai, Tao & Tang, Aikun & Zhao, Dan & Zhou, Chen & Huang, Qiuhan, 2020. "Flame dynamics and stability of premixed methane/air in micro-planar quartz combustors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Zuo, Qingsong & Xie, Yong & E, Jiaqiang & Zhu, Xinning & Zhang, Bin & Tang, Yuanyou & Zhu, Guohui & Wang, Zhiqi & Zhang, Jianping, 2020. "Effect of different exhaust parameters on NO conversion efficiency enhancement of a dual-carrier catalytic converter in the gasoline engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    14. Rana, Uttam & Chakraborty, Suman & Som, S.K., 2017. "Prediction of flame speed and exergy analysis of premixed flame in a heat recirculating cylindrical micro combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 658-670.
    15. 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.
    16. Li, Yueh-Heng & Hong, Jing-Ru, 2018. "Performance assessment of catalytic combustion-driven thermophotovoltaic platinum tubular reactor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 843-853.
    17. 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.
    18. Wan, Jianlong & Zhao, Haibo, 2018. "Thermal performance of solid walls in a mesoscale combustor with a plate flame holder and preheating channels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 448-459.
    19. E, Jiaqiang & Luo, Bo & Han, Dandan & Chen, Jingwei & Liao, Gaoliang & Zhang, Feng & Ding, Jiangjun, 2022. "A comprehensive review on performance improvement of micro energy mechanical system: Heat transfer, micro combustion and energy conversion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    20. Zhao, Zhengyang & Wang, Wei & Zuo, Zhengxing & Kuang, Nianling, 2022. "Investigation on the flame characteristics of premixed propane/air in a micro opposed flow porous combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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.
    2. Zuo, Wei & E, Jiaqiang & Liu, Haili & Peng, Qingguo & Zhao, Xiaohuan & Zhang, Zhiqing, 2016. "Numerical investigations on an improved micro-cylindrical combustor with rectangular rib for enhancing heat transfer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 77-87.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Aravind, B. & Khandelwal, Bhupendra & Kumar, Sudarshan, 2018. "Experimental investigations on a new high intensity dual microcombustor based thermoelectric micropower generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1173-1181.
    6. 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.
    7. Zhuang Kang & Zhiwei Shi & Jiahao Ye & Xinghua Tian & Zhixin Huang & Hao Wang & Depeng Wei & Qingguo Peng & Yaojie Tu, 2023. "A Review of Micro Power System and Micro Combustion: Present Situation, Techniques and Prospects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-28, April.
    8. Fan, Aiwu & Zhang, He & Wan, Jianlong, 2017. "Numerical investigation on flame blow-off limit of a novel microscale Swiss-roll combustor with a bluff-body," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 252-259.
    9. 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.
    10. Wu, Gang & Lu, Zhengli & Pan, Weichen & Guan, Yiheng & Ji, C.Z., 2018. "Numerical and experimental demonstration of actively passive mitigating self-sustained thermoacoustic oscillations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 257-266.
    11. Aravind, B. & Khandelwal, Bhupendra & Ramakrishna, P.A. & Kumar, Sudarshan, 2020. "Towards the development of a high power density, high efficiency, micro power generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    12. Peng, Qingguo & Yang, Wenming & E, Jiaqiang & Li, Shaobo & Li, Zhenwei & Xu, Hongpeng & Fu, Guang, 2021. "Effects of propane addition and burner scale on the combustion characteristics and working performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    13. Tang, Aikun & Cai, Tao & Deng, Jiang & Zhao, Dan & Huang, Qiuhan & Zhou, Chen, 2019. "Experimental study on flame structure transitions of premixed propane/air in micro-scale planar combustors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 558-570.
    14. Fanciulli, C. & Abedi, H. & Merotto, L. & Dondè, R. & De Iuliis, S. & Passaretti, F., 2018. "Portable thermoelectric power generation based on catalytic combustor for low power electronic equipment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 300-308.
    15. Akhtar, Saad & Kurnia, Jundika C. & Shamim, Tariq, 2015. "A three-dimensional computational model of H2–air premixed combustion in non-circular micro-channels for a thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 47-57.
    16. E, Jiaqiang & Luo, Bo & Han, Dandan & Chen, Jingwei & Liao, Gaoliang & Zhang, Feng & Ding, Jiangjun, 2022. "A comprehensive review on performance improvement of micro energy mechanical system: Heat transfer, micro combustion and energy conversion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    17. Alipoor, Alireza & Saidi, Mohammad Hassan, 2017. "Numerical study of hydrogen-air combustion characteristics in a novel micro-thermophotovoltaic power generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 382-399.
    18. 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.
    19. Zuo, Wei & Li, Jing & Zhang, Yuntian & Li, Qingqing & He, Zhu, 2020. "Effects of multi-factors on comprehensive performance of a hydrogen-fueled micro-cylindrical combustor by combining grey relational analysis and analysis of variance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    20. He, Ziqiang & Yan, Yunfei & Zhao, Ting & Zhang, Zhien & Mikulčić, Hrvoje, 2022. "Parametric study of inserting internal spiral fins on the micro combustor performance for thermophotovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:122:y:2017:i:c:p:408-419. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.